I’ve settled into an interesting set of rhythms. I get a little flash of summer, a challenging fall, a big haul through winter, then my first gasp of spring. I’ve discovered that the brutality of winter is determined by the success of my fall. Therefore my summer is often spent scurrying around preparing for the […]

Vanessa Rubin is an accomplished jazz vocalist and composer who rose to stardom under the tutelage of New York jazz greats Barry Harris and Frank Foster. Her career began when she received high praise for her performance of the famous ballad “God Bless the Child” in a pageant in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Rubin […]

The Izzy Asper Jazz Performances season opens with a fireworks display this year. “Best of the Blue Note” captures the rambunctious energy of the record label that epitomizes the bebop era. Those sessions were marked by stamina, virtuosity, and sparkling wit, and we’re going to recreate that magic here in Winnipeg. Brian Lynch is an […]

There are very few artists in this world who can say they have been successful over a wide spectrum of genres, but to be truly recognized and celebrated in those different genres is indeed a tribute to the persistence of a devoted artist. Not only has Michael Philip Mossman earned himself a place in the […]

Drummer Quincy Davis moved to Winnipeg in the fall of 2010 to join the Jazz Studies faculty at the University of Manitoba. Over the past few years, he has been busy teaching the next generation of drummers and leading Promise, a hand-picked ensemble of high-calibre students. If you haven’t seen him on the Izzy Asper […]

In the summer issue of dig!, Steve Kirby introduced Jon Gordon, one of the guest faculty at the U of M Summer Jazz Camp in August. The good news is that he’s staying! Jon Gordon has now been formally named the new saxophone professor in the Jazz Studies program at the University of Manitoba. He […]

Lee Morgan was a child prodigy. At age fifteen he was already leading his own group in Philadelphia, having picked up the trumpet for the first time one year earlier. Esteemed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie recruited him to play in his big band when he was just seventeen. There he assumed the trumpet solo duties on […]

As summer progresses, I find my ears wandering into new territory. The sonic grounds I have stumbled into this year are marked by Snarky Puppy, a Texas-grown band with almost 30 musicians in regular rotation. I know—the name sounds ridiculous, but trust me on this one. Snarky Puppy is a genre-hopping mixture of everything from […]

The fact is, each era in the history of jazz has a canon of great pianists, and Cedar Walton was one of a stellar cluster in the hard bop era. He’s in good company with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, Bobby Timmins, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, and Kenny Barron. Cedar Walton had […]

So here’s my big discovery for 2013: All My Friends Are Superheroes. Okay, that’s actually the name of a novel by Andrew Kaufman, but it’s a discovery all the same. Stylish and spirited, whimsical and wise, it’s earned a place on the top shelf where all my favourite books hold court. I’m so glad I […]