Orsara is a little mountain village in southeast Italy. I was there during the first week of August this summer teaching at a jazz camp. According to the mayor, the city is practically a ghost town all year until the jazz camp arrives. Then people who have moved on and people who live in larger […]

The Bad Plus are one of the most important jazz groups of the past decade. Over the last eleven years, they have developed and re-developed a distinctive piano trio sound that draws influence from the entire jazz canon, as well as contemporary classical music, and modern rock and pop groups. Some of the artists they […]

Every year when Bev Aronovitch and I get together to make plans for the next Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series, it’s an adventure. So many world-class musicians to consider, so many musical angles to explore, so many eager listeners to please… This 2012-13 season starts with two knockout concerts. The September opener, “Celebrating Dizzy,” brings […]

In the fall of 1993, I decided to move to New York City. I had done a lot of research and had some target spots for jam sessions which produced gigs. On top of my list was the Dean Street Café in Brooklyn. I didn’t know who was running the session but I knew the […]

As the season changes, the music on our streets changes too. Jazz on Wheels has had a vigorous summer, with rowdy performances to hundreds of hot and happy CSI Summer Institute learners, and neighborhood parties where a few intrepid kids did impromptu remakes of Justin Bieber tunes with the band. You have one more chance […]

Jam sessions—where musicians spontaneously create one-off groupings and perform repertoire they have not rehearsed—are among the most important occurrences in the jazz community. They can be responsible for some of the most creative and beautiful musical moments musicians will ever experience. Historically, jam sessions have been instrumental in the evolution of jazz music. Minton’s Playhouse […]

Larry Roy is one of the fixtures of the Winnipeg music scene. He’s the first-call a guitarist in the city, he’s a busy recording engineer with his own studio, and now that he’s completed a Master’s Degree in Jazz, he’s formally joined the faculty of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Manitoba. I […]

Charlie “Yardbird” Parker’s contribution to the invention of the style of jazz called bebop makes him one of the most important jazz musicians of all time. To many he’s also considered the greatest saxophonist in jazz. As a composer, he was responsible for several songs that have become standards, such as “Ornithology,” “Scrapple from the […]

I’ve mentioned before that Winnipeg is beginning to gain a reputation amongst the world’s jazz community. We’ve had the opportunity to share our investment in this art form with a lot of high-powered visiting artists over the past nine years. Now, members of our jazz faculty are regularly invited to tour in North America, Europe, […]

I happened to see an interview recently with William Shatner, the actor who counts the dashing space cowboy Captain Kirk and the cranky lawyer Denny Crane among many roles. His newest undertaking is a solo stage show, which looks like a cross between a dramatic monologue memoir and a motivational seminar. The clips I’ve heard […]