Jazz on Wheels

Live, Free and In Motion!
The Evolution of Jazz

Jazz on Wheels was launched by Artistic Director Steve Kirby and Jazz Winnipeg in June of 2006. An ambitious and innovative community project, Jazz on Wheels literally drives music to people in their own neighborhoods.

Making its first appearance on June 10^th at the Ellice Street Festival, Jazz on Wheels is a mobile concert stage featuring local and touring jazz musicians delivering interactive presentations about the evolution of jazz and its influence on popular music. This group of highly accomplished musicians will travel throughout Winnipeg , performing free concerts and workshops on a flatbed trailer.

The inspiration for Jazz on Wheels comes from Steve Kirby , Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Manitoba , Faculty of Music. 

Recognizing that Winnipeg’s young people face seemingly insurmountable pressures from increasing gang violence, urban poverty, drugs and theft, Steve looked back thirty years to his own difficult youth on the streets of St. Louis. 

“As a teen, I was getting into some of the worst kinds of the trouble,” he explains. “One of the guys I used to run with has been executed for his crimes. I know others who have been incarcerated and some who have been permanently crippled because of the direction their lives took.”

One day, after breaking into the right building, he heard music playing down the hall. Peering in—and more importantly, listening in—he saw and heard the strains of jazz being played right in front of him by Oliver Lake and Lester Bowie. 

In an instant, his life was changed. Jazz became his passion and in the years since, it has motivated him to master his instrument and rise from the streets to the stage, joining some of the greatest performers in jazz today—from James Carter to Cyrus Chestnut to Wynton Marsalis.

Today Steve can point to that seminal moment when he literally stumbled on to the music that opened his ears and eyes to a new life. 

With his own history in mind, Steve formed a partnership with Jazz Winnipeg to produce Jazz on Wheels to introduce a unique artistic experience to young people who might not otherwise get a chance to hear these exceptional musicians.

“Jazz Winnipeg has been looking for an opportunity exactly like this to connect with Winnipeg ’s youth – to provide them with a unique experience. And maybe to inspire Winnipeg ’s next great jazz artist,” says Paul Nolin, Executive Producer of Jazz Winnipeg.

Jazz on Wheels seeks to provide Winnipeg youth with positive artistic experiences, helping them to discover new creative outlets and to develop a life-long appreciation for jazz.

Jazz on Wheels gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canadian Heritage, TD Canada Trust, Maxim Transportation Services and The Winnipeg Foundation.