One of the most precious things that we possess is our innocence. We lost a lot of it in Connecticut last month. Let’s hope that it’s the tipping point that launches us into a society that understands how utterly ridiculous it is to interpret the US Constitution’s second amendment as the right to stockpile assault […]

Last week at Juss Jazz, we played this wonderful old Joe Henderson tune, “Jinrikisha.” I think most people aren’t familiar with it, but I love it. To me it speaks of a place I’ve only dreamed of, where the sky is a weird colour, the mountains are shaped funny, people speak sounds I’ve never heard, […]

When musicians of different styles collaborate with the intent to understand each other better, we, the lucky listeners, get to see the musical fireworks that result. You’ll want to be at the Park Theatre on January 25, when Trio Bembe and Rambling Dan Frechette combine forces for the first show of Jazz Winnipeg’s 2013 Nu […]

On November 15, people packed the Park Theatre to support dig! magazine. What a party—happy people, shiny prizes, stellar music, and the great feeling of banding together in a big shout-out to the Jazz Capital of Canada! The evening opened with Quincy Davis & Promise, a band of top-level students in the Jazz Studies program […]

Rodrigo Muñoz was 12 years old when his family came to Winnipeg in 1975. They were Chilean refugees, fleeing the coup. The previous year, living in exile in Argentina, Rodrigo hung out with Chilean musicians, learning to smoke cigarettes, drink beer, and sing songs about sex and revolution. Arriving in Canada settled his behaviour, but […]

The U of M Youth Jazz Collective kicked off last year, with Derrick Gardner in the driver’s seat. The group of gifted high school jazz musicians from around the city met at the U of M once a week, learning new repertoire, discovering the intricacies of improvisation, and finessing their technique as ensemble players. In […]

Born to a Stockton, California cattle-rancher who was also a rodeo champion, David Warren Brubeck was roping steers by the time he was fourteen and thinking of a career on the rodeo circuit. But his mother, a pianist and his first teacher, had a different dream for young Dave. It was undoubtedly her influence that […]

The club is dark, cramped and smoky, and other than the music radiating from the bandstand, silence is the only thing that can be heard. It’s so quiet, you might wonder whether the audience is enjoying themselves. But immediately following the last note of the set, they jump up and break into a roar of […]

Dwayne “MonoNeon” Thomas Jr is one of the most creative and talked-about young electric bassists on the scene today. Only 22 years old, the Tennessee native has brought his killer chops and original concept to a wide variety of settings, playing with jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette, microtonal guitarist Dave Fiuczynski, and gospel star Tye Tribbett. […]

On December 14, I shared with millions of others a surge of dread as the first reports of a school shooting in Connecticut emerged. My heart leaned toward the worried parents, the traumatized children, an entire community awash in anguish. Then, suddenly and inexorably, across all the miles, we became part of that anguish, because […]