Manitoba Music
Jazz Winnipeg's Nu Sounds Series
Nu Sounds, Jazz Winnipeg's popular concert series, returns this month with six shows featuring some of the best artists and composers from Manitoba's jazz community at the Park Theatre.
Brazilian guitarist Marco Castillo kicks things off on November 29 with his quartet, which also includes bassist extraordinair Gilles Fournier, percussionist Scott Senior, and keyboardist Marc Arnould. Castillo is shaking things up a bit by playing a mix of jazz standards and pop songs played in Brazilian rhythms.
Audiences can also catch upcoming performances from pianist Will Bonness in March, and vocalist Amber Epp and her group, Amber Epp In Rhythm in April. Bonness and Epp both have brand new CDs launched on November 23 at a packed double CD release party at the West End Cultural Centre.
This season's hottest ticket may be the May 16 show, a first-time collaboration between four of Winnipeg's top female jazz composers: Janice Finlay, Michelle Grégoire, Lianne Fournier, and Danielle Baert. Collaborate... Create... Compose! will feature new music from each as well as a piece "inspired by and incorporating a communal collection of musical elements contributed by the individual performers at the start of the project."
The six-concert series, which celebrates its fourth birthday this year, features local performers presenting projects than may be a little different from what you might be used to from them.
Jazz Fest's executive producer, Paul Nolin, described the concept behind the series in a recent release:
"We wanted to offer an outlet for musicians to really get creative: Experiment with different musical styles, work with other musicians they've never played with before, or introduce some brand new compositions they've been writing."