The Full Jazz at the Fort Garry Hotel Lineup is Here
From Winnipeg favourites to national voices and international sounds, Jazz at the Fort Garry Hotel’s 2026/2027 season brings world-class music back to The Club Room.
Above: Jazz Winnipeg artistic director Zachary Rushing with —- outside the Fort Garry Hotel ahead of the Fall 2026 season.
In March 2023, Jazz Winnipeg launched a new collaboration with the Fort Garry Hotel: a weekly music series featuring some of the best jazz in Winnipeg, hosted in the newly revamped Club Room — a space with a long history in the city’s nightlife and music scene.
Above: Niall Cade, one of the city’s preeminent saxophonists, takes the stage on the eve of John Coltrane’s 100th birthday to celebrate one of jazz’s greatest innovators.
At a time when jazz was still being dismissed by some as “dead” or irrelevant, it’s fair to sa y there were people who wondered: why bother?
In the past three and a half years, we’ve presented over 120 unique shows featuring artists from Winnipeg and beyond. We’ve celebrated album releases, artist anniversaries, the creation of countless new musical projects, and developed a home to showcase the depth and diversity of jazz in Winnipeg.
Each season, our program has grown to include more musical voices, encompass more styles, and most importantly — more of you, our incredible audience. In the past three and a half years, we’ve seen more than 11,500 audience members descend the stairs at Fort Garry Hotel to spend their evening enjoying music the way it was meant to be heard — live, in person.
The fall 2026 season features touring artists from Quebec, Ontario, and as far away as Sardinia, Italy alongside a curated roster of exceptional local talent. This season, we challenged ourselves to bring an even greater breadth of world-class music into this intimate room. The result is a program where each and every show is truly a special event.
Our season opens in September with a trio of shows demonstrating Winnipeg’s musical excellence. Sol James is a musical powerhouse, known for her powerful voice and deep emoting, but did you know she has a background in jazz? Expect it to be on full display for her Jazz at the Fort Garry debut. Niall Cade is one of the city’s preeminent saxophonists, and takes the stage on the eve of John Coltrane’s 100th birthday to celebrate one of jazz’s greatest innovators. Chet Breau, son of guitar legend Lenny Breau, carries a remarkable musical legacy of his own, and is one of Winnipeg’s most brilliant string players.
Above: Neema Bickersteth will perform songs by Scott Joplin in a special crossover collaboration with Manitoba Opera, ahead of her Manitoba Opera debut as Treemonisha this November.
October starts with a special performance from Adèle M Wilding celebrating the full circle story of her life in music, and an evening of emotionally raw and deeply soulful music and stories from bilingual singer-songwriter SoulBear before a run of shows featuring out of town guests.
Ken Whitely, David Wall, and Marilyn Lerner all have unique musical strengths and backgrounds. What they share is a friendship with Winnipeg’s own Danny Koulack, who has invited them to come together for this special collaboration. The result is a one-of-a-kind ensemble bringing jazz, folk, blues, klezmer, Yiddish song and free improvisation into an intimate musical conversation.
In a special crossover collaboration with Manitoba Opera, soprano Neema Bickersteth performs songs by Scott Joplin — including selections from his opera Treemonisha - alongside an inventive fusion of jazz, opera, and art song. Neema makes her Manitoba Opera debut this November in the lead role (Treemonisha) in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining.
Gentiane MG first graced a Jazz Winnipeg stage in 2023 for the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival. She returns with her long-standing trio featuring bassist Levi Dover and drummer Mark Nelson to play new compositions from her recent release, Can You Hear the Birds? — music that explores connection in all its forms, with others, nature, creativity itself, and with parts of oneself still being discovered. Expect transportive and contemplative piano jazz with a contemporary edge.
Anthony D’Alessandro is celebrating the release of his own new work — a rousing and energetic tribute to the legendary compositions of George Gershwin, set for release this fall. Anthony’s explosive ensemble headlined the Club Room during the 2025 Winnipeg Jazz Festival, and was an audience favourite.
Two of Winnipeg’s next big stars carry us through November in a celebration of new works. Artist, producer, and songwriter CEC presents a special “unplugged” listening of their new EP, BRIEFLY, and the songs that inspired it, and drummer/composer Esteban Seunarine plays “jazz for people who hate jazz” from his 2026 release The Expanding Whatever.
All the way from Sardinia, Italy, our final touring act in the season is truly something special. The creation of pianist Andrea Manzoni and oud player Mauro Sigura, MIGRANTES is much more than a concert. Structured in three acts — The Dream, The Hope, and The Journey — the project unfolds through immersive soundscapes that weave together jazz, Arab-Ottoman traditions, classical music and global influences. This is much more than a concert; it’s a musical journey, and one of the season’s most unusual offerings.
We close out the season with holiday celebrations from Danny Carroll Trio and special guest vocalist Kevin Aichele, and the return of The Stray Horns to the Club Room. After two sold-out performances in March of this year playing the music of Duke and Ella, they return to play arrangements from a seminal holiday classic — Ella Wishes You a Swingin’ Christmas.
Above: The Stray Horns — formerly The Jazz Casuals — performing at the Fort Garry Hotel in March 2026. They return to The Club Room this season with swinging arrangements from Ella Wishes You a Swingin’ Christmas. Photo by Matt Duboff.
It may be surprising to look at this roster and realize that every one of these artists will be performing in a small room in a mid-sized prairie city. But for us, and our audience, it is back to business as usual at Jazz at the Fort Garry Hotel this fall. This is what Winnipeg jazz looks like: ambitious, diverse, collaborative, deeply connected to the world, and constantly creating something new.
We are the heart of jazz in Canada, and we’re so excited to be back for a full season with you.
See you in The Club Room,
Zachary Rushing
Artistic Director, Jazz Winnipeg
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