Award-winning jazz pianist Oliver Jones was here just recently, and he mentioned—not casually, but from the stage at the WAG—how the reputation of our jazz scene has really caught on in Montreal. Every week, I get email or calls from New York, Toronto, St Louis, Boston, or Atlanta, inquiring about what’s going on here. The […]

Wynton Marsalis is easily the most artistically and politically successful jazz musician in history. He’s among the most popular—perhaps not more than Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong, but he’s up in their ranks. He’s the gold standard by which trumpet players are measured. You might be as good as Wynton, but I don’t know if […]

Vibraphonist Gary Burton’s four-mallet technique is astonishing, and has revolutionized the role of the vibraphone in ensemble playing. After touring in the mid-60s with pianist George Shearing and saxophonist Stan Getz, Burton established his own group, the Gary Burton Quartet, in 1967, with guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Steve Swallow. Their album […]

I always tell my piano students to check out the masters: Fats Waller, Bill Evans, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, and others. But jazz has changed a lot since the 1950s and 1960s, incorporating trends in American popular music—rock, soul, funk, and hip-hop. It’s a living music, so it’s important to check out the […]

Where to start with Trombone Shorty? Perhaps as a 3-year-old in New Orleans, playing “the world’s smallest trumpet.” Or a year later, marching in a street parade with a trombone twice as long as he was high—he got his nickname there and then. Or turning heads at 12 with a funk band in a New […]

For all of us lovers of Klezmer and Eastern European folk music, an exciting event is on the horizon! The Black Sea Station, a recent collaborative project comprised of five incredible musicians, is slated to perform at this year’s jazz festival. I had a chance to speak with Winnipeg’s own Daniel Koulack about the genesis […]

Founder of Pink Martini, Thomas Lauderdale, describes their repertoire as widely diverse. “At one moment, you feel like you’re in the middle of a samba parade in Rio de Janeiro,” he says, “and in the next moment, you’re in a French music hall of the 1930s or a palazzo in Napoli.” The birth of Pink […]

You might have seen Neil wailing away on the sax in the front row of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (which he also manages) or you might have seen him on various stages with various groups playing various styles. He’s sunny, thoughtful, and able to juggle many responsibilities—and make it look easy… When did you start […]

One of the most productive relationships in music, let alone jazz, was the one Duke Ellington had with his musical alter ego, Billy Strayhorn. It is a collaboration that started in 1938 and ended when Strayhorn died in 1967. Their work led to such classics as “Take the A Train,” which Stayhorn wrote after listening […]

This May, the sixteenth Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival kicks off in New York City, and once again, exactly one Canadian band—Winnipeg’s River East Collegiate—is among the fifteen finalists. Competition is stiff. Over 1500 schools receive Essential Ellington materials, including scores and recordings. This year, 110 bands submitted a recorded performance […]

I was midway through a concert in the Berney Theatre when I had this revelation. Listening to jazz is like reading good poetry: you get better at it with practice, and the more you bring to it, the more you carry away. Like poetry, jazz can be intimidating, bewildering, even unappealing. Many dismiss them both […]