The New York Times calls Allan Harris “an extremely relaxed and tasteful crooner in the Nat ‘King’ Cole tradition,” and that lineage is strong for him: he performed a concert tribute, “Unforgettable: The Songs of Nat ‘King’ Cole” at the Kennedy Center, and released a live recording, Long Live the King. He has the [...]

A perceptive jazz fan once commented that when Ella Fitzgerald sang about her man leaving, you thought he’d gone to the corner store to pick up a loaf of bread and a carton of milk. When Billie Holiday sang that her man had left, you knew he’d packed a suitcase, caught an airplane, and was [...]

I’m a fan of the drums and the people who play them. When I hear a song, the first thing I listen to is the drum part. I’ll watch the drummer more than anyone else in the band. Drums have the power in modern-day music, whether hard rock or country ballads, to drive and give structure [...]

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s IMRIS New Music Festival is an opportunity to hear the wild edges of the classical world. Often theatrical, and invariably venturing into nearby genres like jazz, New Music Festival performances are a great antidote to the cold that settles in by the first week of February. Concerts are preceded by discussions [...]