Time for another season of solid concerts in the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series! Rolling into town in mid-October will be one of the year’s highlights: an all-star quintet led by brothers John and Jeff Clayton.
John Clayton is no stranger to Winnipeg audiences. A world-class bassist, he studied with Ray Brown at 16, and went [...]

I live in a beautiful world these days. I can see the tenets of jazz culture in practically everything I do. Whether I’m hanging out, talking with friends, or driving down the street in heavy traffic, it feels like I’m performing in a jazz ensemble. It’s in my DNA now. Learning, teaching, and everyday life [...]

On Saturday, July 30, Babs (Ruth) Asper died suddenly and unexpectedly, and Winnipeg’s jazz community lost a quiet leader. Like her husband Izzy, Babs was a great lover of jazz music, attending and hosting concerts, and offering all kinds of support to many of this city’s artists.
I knew very soon after arriving here in Winnipeg [...]

Bassist Luke Sellick is emerging as one of the city’s most engaging new jazz voices. His boyish enthusiasm is balanced by great technique and sophisticated musicality. Now entering his fourth year in the Jazz Studies program, Luke was one of several students who spent some time in New York with Steve Kirby this summer.
Now you’ve [...]

The summer of 2011 has been a bit of an odyssey for the students from Hugh John Macdonald who were part of the first-ever Bridge program. They’ve had their first opportunities to perform live all over town with the Jazz on Wheels band, which has put them in front of lots of people. Then, in [...]

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 [...]

John Coltrane is one of the two most accomplished saxophonists in the history of jazz, the other being Charlie Parker. Coltrane blazed new sonic trails on his alto sax in songs that still sound fresh and timeless. He wrote and recorded numerous masterpieces, such as “Giant Steps,” “Naima,” “Central Park West,” and “A Love Supreme,” [...]

I like to think that I had a small part in Sean Jones’ development as one of today’s top jazz trumpeters. In 2000, I was teaching at Ohio State University. I met Sean at a “battle of the bands” in Columbus, and when Sean let loose on his first solo, I was floored by his [...]

On a bike ride the other day, I whizzed past a man who was walking briskly—with his nose buried in a book. I grinned all the way down the block. Why don’t I do that any more?
A couple of years ago, my son was slogging through one of those junior high hell zones. He was [...]