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Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
Jazz Fest artistic director Zachary Rushing is excited for this year\u2019s jazz festival, which features acts from around the globe.<\/p>\n
A few out-of-town mainstage highlights include Ontario five-piecer Shebad, sounding like a cross somewhere between Amy Winehouse and Daft Punk; Juno-nominated Montreal-based drummer and composer Salin, fusing the sounds of Northern Thailand with 1970s West African psychedelia; and pioneering Hungarian fusion artists Djabe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people from city hall walking over as soon as we set up, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Thank you for doing this. This is amazing,\u2019\u201d says Angela Heck, the festival\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n
Drawing more than 30,000 people each year, the jazz fest gives a jolt to a downtown that struggles to sustain a vibrant cultural and nightlife economy. Out-of-town acts fill up hotels, while audiences stay hydrated in the festival\u2019s beer gardens \u2014 ordering tall boys supplied by local breweries such as Little Brown Jug, Good Neighbour and Trans Canada \u2014 and buy band merch between sets or hit up the nearby restaurants and food trucks.<\/p>\n
Heck hopes more audiences this year will follow the sounds of jazz emanating from the surrounding area to see ticketed concerts at the Burton Cummings Theatre, the West End Cultural Centre, the Club Room at the Fort Garry Hotel and beyond. And if you miss an act, there\u2019s always a chance they\u2019ll show up to the nightly jams hosted by Winnipeg bassist Lindsay Woolgar and Winnipeg drummer K\u2019 Waters, starting at 11 p.m. at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s marquee concerts include, on the Canadian side, world-class jazz singer Molly Johnson (Wednesday, June 17, at Desautels Concert Hall) and Winnipeg\u2019s Soul Supreme, led by Keisha Booker (June 17, at the Burton Cummings Theatre).<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n Iceland\u2019s ADHD plays the Club Room June 18.<\/p>\n On the international side, there\u2019s a scaled-down version of Australia\u2019s celebrated Cat Empire (Thursday, June 18, at the West End Cultural Centre) \u2014 as well as American jazz royalty Miles Electric Band (Sunday, June 21, at the Burton Cummings Theatre) and Jason Marsalis Quartet (Friday, June 19, at Desautels Concert Hall).<\/p>\n The Miles Electric Band has a rich musical legacy, related to Miles Davis\u2019s famous turn toward more more psychedelic influences beginning in the 1960s. Davis was worried that jazz would become a museum piece if it didn\u2019t adapt, and the times were a changin\u2019, with an explosion of kaleidoscopic and electric sounds.<\/p>\n His plan to make a record with Jimi Hendrix was cut short by the guitarist\u2019s early death, but he had other found other young collaborators \u2014 jazzers who\u2019d drunk the psychedelic Kool-Aid such as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin. One result was Bitches Brew (1969), a watershed moment in jazz fusion.<\/p>\n Several of the current Miles Electric Band members played with Davis \u2014 including his longtime producer nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. (drums), former musical director Robert Irving III (keys) and others \u2014 after Davis underwent this shift, collaborating with him in the 1980s when he was responding to electric and pop influences such as Prince.<\/p>\n But Davis soon found detractors \u2014 such as young trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Jason Marsalis\u2019s older brother. Wynton accused Davis of abandoning jazz\u2019s roots in swing, blues and bebop in favour of rock backbeats and flamboyant rock-star showmanship.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n Curtis Nowosad performs June 21 at the Club Room.<\/p>\n A beef was ignited, culminating in a legendary clash at the 1986 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Responding to what he claimed was Davis\u2019s trash-talking, Marsalis strutted onstage unannounced during Davis\u2019s set, and began playing a trumpet solo \u2014 before being booted offstage by Davis.<\/p>\n Winnipeg in 2026 is not Vancouver in 1986, and nearly 40 years later, tempers between the two jazz currents have ebbed.<\/p>\n \u201cJazz is this interesting music in that it holds, in one hand, innovation, and in the other, tradition, right? And it\u2019s spent all of this time trying to reconcile the cognitive dissonance,\u201d Rushing says.<\/p>\n Concerts this year, such as Winnipeg\u2019s Soul Supreme, also reflect more recent developments in jazz\u2019s push toward pop, funk and electronic music. Organized as tribute to the late R&B singer D\u2019Angelo, the concert will also be a show of force for Winnipeg\u2019s younger musicians who grew up on the sounds of jazz-influenced hip hop and neo-soul.<\/p>\n Among the festival\u2019s ticketed offerings is the Fort Garry Hotel\u2019s Club Room series \u2014 with highlights that include Winnipeg-born, New York-based drummer and composer Curtis Nowosad; French acts Jean-Michel Pilc Trio and Robinson Khoury\/M\u0178A; Iceland\u2019s famous ADHD, blending jazz, ambient and Nordic folk; Danish jazz crooner Kristin Korb, backed by Winnipegger Will Bonness on the keys; and Winnipeggers Erin Propp and Larry Roy, bringing Stevie Wonder\u2019s Songs in the Key of Life to the stage.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n Vocalist Molly Johnson is among the Canadian artists at this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n With 50 artists from eight countries, jazz fest is both more local and more international since its origins in 1989 when Canada\u2019s jazz festivals were more American-centric.<\/p>\n Many of this year\u2019s international artists are discoveries from the Jazzahead! conference, which also served as a touring launchpad for the half dozen local acts that Jazz Winnipeg brought to the German showcase. Heck says this participation reflects Jazz Winnipeg\u2019s proactivity about seeking diversified partnerships to support the local festival and the city\u2019s musicians.<\/p>\n And there is no shortage of Winnipeg acts on its mainstage this year, including pianist- \u201cAll these pieces we\u2019re talking about \u2014 the local, national and international artists \u2014 are represented on Old Market Square,\u201d Rushing says.<\/p>\n \u201c(And) we really pride ourselves in making Old Market Square free and accessible. That\u2019s something we need to continue to do because it\u2019s a benefit to all Winnipeggers,\u201d Heck adds.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n The Miles Electric Band plays the Burt on June 21.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/conradsweatman<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Conrad Sweatman Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for\u00a0outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad.<\/a><\/p>\n
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\ncomposer Danny Carroll, known for his two-
\ndecade residency at the Fort Garry Palm Room; young eight-piece collective NYOH (Not Your Ordinary Hooligans) blending hip-hop, R&B and jazz; Winnipeg pillars and Latin jazz\/salsa orchestra Papa Mambo and many more.<\/p>\n
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