Why is it that personal growth always has to come in a bittersweet flavor? I experienced that taste this year when I became a participant in a huge community initiative led by a new hero of mine, Roger Berrington. The program is called CanU, and it is designed to inspire “at risk” children from our […]

Jimmy Greene lived in Winnipeg for a few short years, but he and his family have laid claim to many of us, and we continue to think of them as part of our extended community. The internationally acclaimed saxophonist is returning in June as a special headliner in this year’s TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival. […]

On June 18, Gregory Porter will be performing in Winnipeg as part of the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Winnipeg Festival. The last time I was this excited about a vocalist coming to town was when Dianne Reeves was here seven or eight years ago. The fact that Gregory Porter just won his first Grammy for […]

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honour one can receive in the United States. The award recognizes an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural, or other significant public or private endeavors. On June 19, world-renowned trumpeter, composer, arranger, and 2013 Presidential Medal […]

Ellis Marsalis carries one of the most famous surnames in jazz. He, along with his sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason, are the only family to win a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award, the highest honour awarded by the United States for jazz. While Ellis is a brilliant pianist in his own […]

I may be a bassist, but the one thing I would gladly give a gig up to is the left hand of a Hammond B3 organist. Winnipeg jazz fans will experience this soul-shaking sound (for which I feel simultaneous love and envy) on June 21, when the James Carter Organ Trio, featuring organist Gerard Gibbs […]

When Shannon Kristjanson was eleven, she heard her aunt play flute and thought it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. After a few years learning the flute herself, she picked up saxophone to play in the school jazz band and was intrigued by the freedom and challenge of improvisation. Also an accomplished singer, […]

By all indications, more and more teenage musicians are getting bitten by the jazz bug. They’re pumping Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk and Avishai Cohen through their earphones. They prowl around YouTube watching musicians at work, then send the links to their friends. They hang out in the band room over lunch to work out […]

As a tenor saxophonist, Wayne Shorter has few equals. As a composer, he is one of jazz’s most innovative wmusicians. Shorter is the one player other players listen to when they want to have their backs scratched musically. Newcomers to jazz may well have heard Shorter playing and not known it. As a session musician, […]

Every once in awhile, I have an experience with a piece of art, a moment where everything slows down and reformulates itself as I watch. It happens with music, it happens with paintings, it happens with dance, it happens with writing. It’s not about understanding, though comprehension is in there somewhere. It’s not about pleasure […]