My first bass teacher was an old Jewish guy by the name of Henry Loew. He was the principal bassist in the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He was an amazingly generous soul who cared for me like a son. In my very first lesson, I brought along a bass that was once owned by a […]

by Derrick Gardner When I was in high school back in the early 1980s, I remember hearing a tune called “Straphangin” on our local jazz radio station. The artists performing this tune were the Brecker Brothers and it was the title track of the album that was released in 1980. This was my introduction to […]

Last year, the dynamic duo of Tamar Barr and Karla Berbrayer put together a brand new festival called Tarbut: Festival of Jewish Culture, and Winnipeggers were swept up in a week of music, books, film, discussions, and celebration. This November, they’re back at the Rady Jewish Community Centre with a new line-up of compelling artists […]

This year, there’s a new face in the house band at The Cool Wednesday Night Hang and in the hallways of the Faculty of Music down at the University of Manitoba. Jazz pianist David Restivo is the Jazz Studies Artist-in-Residence, and he’s already settled into the rhythms of performing, teaching, and coaching that are so […]

Like many musicians, saxophonist Janice Finlay began at the piano, but when that was a poor fit, her mother allowed her to exchange it for a band instrument. From the start, she enjoyed the process of “breathing life into an instrument.” A stint on euphonium quickly gave way to the clarinet (they got all the […]

I’m looking forward to welcoming my friend Antonio Ciacca to Winnipeg for a few days this November. He is the Director of Programming for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and last year joined the Julliard Jazz faculty to teach the Business of Jazz. He’s a talented musician who really knows how to build and maintain a […]

If you ever want a quick understanding of what jazz-rock sounds like, then the music of Return to Forever is a good place to start. It was, in its early years, a hugely innovative and influential jazz fusion group. Return to Forever was the brainchild of Chick Corea, who has built his reputation on never […]

Since the early 2000s I have had the privilege of knowing and sometimes performing with legendary vocalist Sheila Jordan. Born in Detroit in 1928, Sheila started singing in clubs at a young age, eventually falling under the spell of the musicians at the forefront of the bebop revolution, especially Charlie Parker, whose pianist, Duke Jordan, […]

When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dark. Now that I have kids of my own, I know this is a pretty common anxiety. I also know that it’s impossible to banish the demons. Turning on the lights, checking under the bed—our efforts to reassure our kids are more of an expression […]