UPCOMING SHOWS
JAZZ WINNIPEG ANNOUNCES 2009-2010 CONCERT SEASON
Naturally 7, Jesse Cook, and Champion Highlight Musically Diverse Program
Jazz Winnipeg is pleased to announce its entire concert season for winter 2009 and spring 2010. From marquee performers Naturally 7 and Jesse Cook to Canadian innovators like Yves Léveillé and Drumheller, to electro-rock group Champion and his G-Strings, Jazz Winnipeg has programmed an exciting, multi-genre season of can't-miss concerts.
JESSE COOK - TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010
Guitarist Jesse Cook brings his cross-Canada tour to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. A Winnipeg audience favourite, Cook will be in town supporting his brand-new CD, The Rumba Foundation, released today on E1Music. For this latest recording, he wanted to trace rumba flamenco back to its roots in Cuba. His instincts though got the better of him and he wound up spending time in Bogota, Colombia. The resulting body of work is sublime, a continuation of Cookʼs insatiable appetite for world music in all its forms. Loyal fans will be thrilled with Cook's return, while those who have never before experienced this guitaristʼs creativity will find themselves tapping their feet to these extraordinary Latin rhythms wondering why they have not experienced his music before.
NATURALLY 7 - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009
As announced in July, the 2009-2010 concert season kicks off later this month with a performance by Naturally 7, the phenomenally talented a capella group who stole the show when they opened for Michael Bublé last year at the MTS Centre. Part of a nine city Canadian tour, the group hits Winnipeg on October 20 for a headlining concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre. From New York to LA, Australia to London, Naturally 7's rich harmonies and remarkable ability to replicate instruments have propelled them onto the world stage. Crossing formats and styles, they move seamlessly from the melodic sounds of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," to the contemporary "Wall of Sound," to their original interpretation of "In The Air Tonight." Their unique talent is greeted by standing ovations nightly - truly artists that must be seen to be believed.
CHAMPION AND HIS G-STRINGS - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009
Champion and his G-Strings, whose latest single "Alive Again" is currently taking over radio airwaves, bring their guitar-laden electro sound to the Pyramid Cabaret on November 14. One of the hits of the 2007 Jazz Winnipeg Festival, The Montreal DJ returns to town in support of his new record, Resistance, which was released this month on Sabateur Musique.
The album seems darker in its sonority but shines through the traditional construct of the composition. Resistance is the artist's inner struggle to avoid venturing down the same path creatively. Musical exploration has always been more important then the image projected for Champion and this is made clear with Resistance's eleven burning dance tracks that are just as contagious as any of his previous work.
JAZZ INNOVATORS SERIES - YVES LÉVEILLÉ, DRUMHELLER
This fall also sees the return of The Jazz Innovators Series. After a successful debut season last year, The Jazz Innovators Series returns to showcase some of our country's best and brightest jazz musicians.
The series kicks off on Sunday, November 15, at the Park Theatre with a performance by pianist Yves Léveillé. Since moving to Montreal in 1984, Léveillé has been increasingly called upon to perform his music at the national and international level. In the 90s, he decided to put together his own jazz ensemble dedicated to performing his compositions. This led to Léveillé signing with the jazz label Effendi, with whom he has made four albums, including his latest, SOHO. Yves Léveillé has performed mainly in Quebec, but also in many other Canadians cities such as Halifax, Ottawa, and Vancouver. He has also performed several times in New York City, most notably at Lincoln Center in 2007. In addition, his piano playing skills have led him to such far-flung locales as Singapore, Paris and Vienne.
The series continues on Thursday, February 25, also at the Park Theatre, when Toronto quintet Drumheller comes to Winnipeg as a part of their cross-Canada tour. A quintet of performers who have worked together since 2003, Drumheller draws from jazz (from traditional to avant-garde) and also from their own diverse experiences in free improvisation, folk, notated music, punk and groove music. Drumheller embraces collective and solo improvisation strategies, with compositions that range from short sketches used as jumping off points for free improvisation, to through-composed pieces. As a collective of individual composers, the quintet strives to address the requirements of each composition, while creating a unified vision of what Drumheller's music is.
NU SOUNDS SERIES
Jazz Winnipeg is also excited to the return of the popular Nu Sounds series. The series, now in its fourth season, has an added sixth concert this season and runs from December until May. All performances take place at the Park Theatre.
The series launches on Sunday, November 29, with a performance by Marco Castillo. For his Nu Sounds performance, Marco and his quartet - Gilles Fournier on bass, Scott Senior on drums and percussion, Marc Arnould on keyboards, and Castillo on guitar and vocals - will be performing a repertoire of jazz standards and pop songs, including songs by The Beatles, all played in Brazilian rhythms such as Samba, Bossa Nova, Baião and Frevo.
Nu Sounds starts off the new year on January 10 with an appearance by bassist Steve Hamilton. Hamilton will be joined by saxophonist Jimmy Greene, pianist Will Bonness, drummer Curt Nowosad and percusionist Scott Senior.This talented group will be performing Hamilton's original compositions. Steve's music is an organic synthesis of his many disparate influences from Jazz, World music and Classical music.
On Sunday, February 7, Brandon bassist Jesse Dietschi brings his Double Quartet to the Park Theatre. A unique approach to a performance, the two two quartets Jesse has assembled to perform together are a string quartet and a jazz quartet. This innovative group combines elements of acoustic and electric instruments, orchestration and improvisation, and both Western European art music and jazz elements into a sound beyond categorization.
The series continues on Sunday, March 14 with pianist Will Bonness. In his newly-formed trio with Julian Bradford and Curtis Nowosad, Bonness will explore original and popular songs infused with sounds and beats from around the world. Though grounded in the jazz tradition, the trio has become increasingly interested in incorporating fresh sounds from many sources into their compositions and arrangements. The trio loves to blend new and old sounds, and within the performance you can expect to hear anything from bebop to hip hop to avant garde.
Fresh from her extended trip to Cuba, Amber Epp will make her Nu Sounds Series debut with a performance on Sunday, April 18. Epp, along with her group Amber Epp In Rhythm, will combine original compositions and instrumental standards adapted for voice with original lyrics and vocalese.
Sunday, May 16 features a first-time collaboration between Winnipeg's women jazz composers Janice Finlay, Michelle Grégoire, Lianne Fournier, and Danielle Baert. This unique concert presentation, the last of the 2009-2010 Nu Sounds season, will feature new music from each composer, including at least one piece inspired by and incorporating a communal collection of musical elements contributed by the individual performers at the start of the project.
TD CANADA TRUST JAZZ LABS
Over the next several months our city will be visited by some of the best musicians the jazz world has to offer and thanks to TD Canada Trust and Xerox, these players will be conducting workshops, or "labs," in addition to their concerts. The TD Canada Trust Jazz Labs are a series of workshops geared towards emerging jazz musicians. The workshops will cover a wide range of topics from repertoire to music technique to the business of being a touring artist. This year, we are thrilled to have such world-renowned performers as Yves Leveille, Denzal Sinclaire, Dave McMurdo, Drumheller, Mulgrew Miller, Amber Epp and Stefon Harris hosting Jazz Labs.
Jazz Winnipeg gratefully acknowledges the support of Xerox, The Fairmont Winnipeg, TD Canada Trust, The Winnipeg Free Press, Epic Information Solutions, Maxim Truck & Trailer, Mars Hill Group, St. John's Music, the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
dig! magazine Rent Party
dig! magazine, Winnipeg's source for all things jazz, is holding it's first annual Rent Party!
In the tradition of the fabled Harlem loft and apartment parties of the 1920s, dig! magazing is "rollin' up the rug" and holding a party to pay the landlord!
Madrid opens for Champion and his G-Strings!
Toronto electronic duo Madrid has been pegged as the opening act for Champion and his G-Strings for their upcoming western Canadian tour, including their Winnipeg stop on November 14 at the Pyramid Cabaret!
"Toronto psych-tronic duo Madrid don't so much produce music as let it percolate-- the sounds drip and ripple until the cumulative effect is ocean-sized. Their heady electro-pop is indicative of a band that's got one foot on the dancefloor and the other in the chill-out room" - Pitchfork
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