We’ve started a new project at the University of Manitoba. On Saturdays, a crew of really talented high school kids get together with me to develop their skills as jazz musicians—and make some great music while they’re at it.
The U of M Youth Jazz Collective is starting off as an octet: trumpet and trombone, alto, [...]

I’m looking forward to welcoming my friend Antonio Ciacca to Winnipeg for a few days this November. He is the Director of Programming for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and last year joined the Julliard Jazz faculty to teach the Business of Jazz. He’s a talented musician who really knows how to build and maintain a [...]

In the middle of August, almost a hundred kids (and more than a few adults) immersed themselves in the techniques and philosophy of jazz at the 17th annual U of M Summer Jazz Camp. This year, faculty member Quincy Davis distributed a list of critical recordings for all serious jazz students. Here are his recommends:

Cannonball [...]

Hugh John Macdonald School, up on Bannatyne near the Health Sciences Centre, has been a weekly destination for a few of us since the beginning of January. We’ve been testing out and refining a brand new program called The Bridge—an outreach effort to connect with and support young musicians in the inner city.
Steve Kirby has [...]

This May, the sixteenth Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival kicks off in New York City, and once again, exactly one Canadian band—Winnipeg’s River East Collegiate—is among the fifteen finalists.
Competition is stiff. Over 1500 schools receive Essential Ellington materials, including scores and recordings. This year, 110 bands submitted a recorded performance of [...]

I was New Orleans this January for the annual Jazz Educators Network meetings. JEN is the phoenix that has emerged from the ashes of IAJE, and there’s a lot to like about it!

There were three unexpected stand-outs for me at this year’s JEN. One was a masterclass on self-directed learning by Harry Pickens, special assistant [...]

We all know there are many diets for losing weight and maintaining good health. There’s the Atkins diet, the low-carb diet, the low-fat diet…the list goes on and on. The concept is clear: if you do certain things consistently, you’ll achieve a certain outcome. It’s in fact pretty motivating, which is why I’ve created [...]

In the past, it was considered almost blasphemy in the jazz community to intellectualize the quality we call “swing.” Those on the inside would say, “If you gotta ask, you’ll never know.” Now that jazz education has entered universities, there are books about swing, and teachers who’ve developed strategies to help students get a feel [...]

The first meetings of the Jazz Educators Network, the new incarnation of the IAJE, took place this May 2010 in St Louis, my hometown.

The biggest change is that the JEN gathering is a lot smaller and much more manageable. I could see more of the talks, masterclasses and concerts because there were fewer things happening [...]

With the Jazz Festival right around the corner, both aspiring and experienced jazz musicians will hear some great concerts, but there’s always a chance they might share musical conversation at a late-night jam session as well.

A jam is a curious creature. The players are assembled on the spot, the song is decided in the quickest [...]

This lesson was designed for a jazz band class comprised of grade 9 to 11 students.
In order to be successful at improvising, young musicians have to become absolutely familiar with song structures. One of the most effective ways to do that is by learning to construct and play bass lines over different chord progressions. The [...]

How can you explain the alchemy that happens when jazz musicians are really locked in, making music together? That’s the kind of question that hums just below the surface of a jazz lab.

Throughout the year, visiting musicians borrow time from their performance schedules to unlock the door to their laboratories, and offer tours to all [...]

Calling all trombone players—the brass department at the University of Manitoba has booked in one of Canada’s top trombonists for a two-day weekend seminar in mid-November.
Al Kay is one of Toronto’s busiest musicians, performing and recording for nearly three decades. For the last fifteen years, he’s been the lead trombone with Rob McConnell’s Boss Brass. [...]

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 [...]

He sang, he talked, he coached—and he inspired. On a Sunday morning at the end of May, musicians and music-lovers had a chance to watch Kurt Elling at work. We got a glimpse of the musical philosophy underpinning his phenomenally successful career, and we all took home lessons from his astute and supportive instruction of [...]

Oliver Jones has nothing to prove to anyone. At 74, his artistry and importance cannot be disputed by anyone in this country or abroad. Despite this, he continues to push himself, entertaining and encouraging his fellow human beings.
Jones is one of the most generous men I’ve ever encountered. Winnipeg audiences may remember him from his [...]

I often liken learning jazz to learning a language. If you took a class in Russian and the instructor only opened the textbook, you might piece together a certain amount, maybe even approximate a few sounds. But if I dropped you off in Moscow, you’d be lost. You might recognize a few signs, but you [...]

The U of M Jazz Studies program is taking full advantage of several artists-in-residence in the 2008-2009 academic year. Saxophonist Jimmy Green has been coaching and teaching students in October, and fellow saxophonist Steve Wilson picks up the torch in November.
Steve Wilson is no stranger to the U of M, or to Winnipeg audiences either. [...]

We’re about to have a visitation from as close to a celestial being as the jazz community has yet been able to produce. I’m talking about Jimmy Greene. He is a tall, broad, gentle, corn-fed giant. Peace and love just pours out of his eyes—he’s a really warm spirit. And he plays a mean tenor [...]