These are exciting times in the Jazz Capital of Canada. We’re welcoming two world-class players to our city—saxophonist Jimmy Greene and pianist George Colligan are settling in with their families to live and work in our city. Both are highly sought-after musicians who bring a lot of energy and expertise to the Jazz Studies program […]

As the fall terms starts, we’re welcoming yet another heavy-hitter to the Jazz Studies faculty at the U of M. George Colligan is a first-call New York pianist who’s playing on the some of the highest-profile gigs out there. He’s been recording and touring with Buster Williams, the Mingus Dynasty, Cassandra Wilson, Lonnie Plaxico, and […]

The mark of a savvy performer and master of their craft is often better felt than explained—it’s a total experience of thought, sound, and feeling. If tenor saxophonist Houston Person can pull that off through his recordings, his live performance will have us thinking, hearing and feeling long after his visit to Winnipeg this fall. […]

Gerald Clayton is one of those fortunate few musicians who come from jazz royalty. If there is such a thing as an American griot, Gerald would be one: his musicality reaches back generations, and that allows him to speak with such a deep knowledge and sensitivity to the tradition. It’s hard to talk about Gerald […]

If you’ve been out to jazz concerts in Winnipeg, no doubt you’ll have run into Amber Epp. She’s a force of nature on the stage, whether she’s doing jazz or blues or revamped standards with her regular band, or crooning in Portuguese or Spanish on one of her Latin gigs, or hopping up to jam […]

Lewis Nash is hands down one of the most important drummers alive today. He’s been first-call for many of jazz’s top artists for over two decades, from his first tours with Betty Carter to his most recent work as a member of The Blue Note Seven. Legendary bassist Ron Carter recently said, “I’ve turned down […]

Bill “Count” Basie was one of the great leaders in jazz and played one of its biggest instruments, his orchestra. Basie’s big band played so tightly, soloed so imaginatively, and swung so hard it sounded like a small ensemble. Bill Basie was discovered in Kansas City, but he was born in Red Band, New Jersey, […]

The Jazz on Wheels band has been sharing the joy around the city this summer. And joy it is—winding parades of red t-shirted kids rattling homemade shakers, impromptu dancing along the sidelines, crowds of kids throwing down the gauntlet with spectacular jungle roars, all powered by great music played right out in the open. The […]

In August, I squeezed into a packed house at The Hang to soak up the incredible musicianship of the Jazz Camp faculty band. At one point, Jimmy Greene was taking a solo, the band solid bedrock under him. His big tenor sax sound was rocketing around the room, muscular and searching and clear as honey. […]