smart | city Hometown musicians share bill with jazz


legends at Winnipeg International Jazz Festival Running across many realms, Jazz Fest opens up ears to the robust local music scene


By Michael Falk T


he 2015 TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival is ready to explode. Music fans of all stripes take over the


Exchange District, turning it into Te Jazz District from June 11 to 21. Tis year’s festival is headlined by soul


icon Mavis Staples, life-redemption-story Charles Bradley, Grammy-winning Esper- anza Spalding and the legendary Dave Hol- land, Miles Davis’ bassist. It also features Otis Brown III, sure to become a crowd favourite, and piano legends Fred Hersch and Kenny Baron. While those artists may grab the head-


lines, it’s Winnipeg’s local artists that are the foundation of the festival. Tere are over 50 artists from right here at home perform- ing on stages from Old Market Square’s big opening weekend bash to clubs large and small. And it’s not just jazz: indie rock, soul, blues, hip hop and jazz artists all find a home at the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival. Free opening weekend


Te always-popular opening weekend


features local acts over all four nights, in- cluding headliners Te Lytics, Moses Mayes and Papa Mambo. Tey’re joined by up- and-comers Joanna Majoko, French Press and Te Mariachi Ghost. CBC host, Ismaila Alfa, rolls out his awesome live-band hip hop project Alfa. Te Dirty Catfish Brass Band bring the party from the streets to the stage, and Edmonton’s Te Wet Secrets infuse a horn-drenched bop into Saturday night’s party. “Winnipeg has a really vibrant music


scene,” says executive producer of the fes- tival, Paul Nolin. “I regard the festival as an opportunity to celebrate it and, hopefully, heighten awareness of it locally, nationally and internationally.”


Coming to the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival this year include Mavis Staples (left), Charles Bradly (centre) and Esperanza Spalding (right). Winnipeg expat JAN has made records


with members of Sonic Youth and John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Blonde Red- head). Tey’re opening up for Deerhoof at Union Sound Hall on Wednesday, June 17. Atlaas, DJ Hunnicutt and Hana Lulu


are other revered locals featured at Union Sound Hall. Curtis Nowosad has been a mainstay on


the Winnipeg jazz scene, recently released his second album, and is now studying in New York. He’s coming home for a show at Maw’s Beer Hall on Friday, June 19, and


local legend Ron Paley brings his band to Maw’s on Monday, June 16. Cinematheque, Te Cube Lounge and


Winnipeg Free Press Cafe feature shows predominantly from local artists such as Grace Hrabi, Amber Epp, Te Keith Price Trio, and Sunny Roseland. Beyond the festival itself, Jazz Winnipeg


produces the NuSounds series. NuSounds features local artists doing one-of-a-kind collaborative concerts at Te Park Teatre. Tis season’s shows including a live remix concert by Keith Price, a composition


workshop showcase by Jocelyn Gould, and Flock Of Bards – a unique, jazzy marriage of poetry and music from Winnipeg writer Charlene Diehl and jazz scene catalyst Steve Kirby. Jazz Winnipeg and Steve Kirby also run


Jazz On Wheels, a mobile concert featuring high-level musicians who bring jazz into neighborhoods that aren’t likely to have access to live music. Te full schedule for the 2015 TD Winnipeg


International Jazz Festival can be found at www.jazzwinnipeg.com.


Rayannah hits stride with EP release and ode to Winnipeg in “Boxcar Lullabies”


T


here was a collective gasp as Win- nipeggers saw Rayannah’s breath expelled on-screen for the first time


in the music video for her single, “Boxcar Lullabies.” At once stunning, raw, and quintessen-


tially Winnipeg, the beautifully produced “Boxcar Lullabies” video launched Rayan- nah into a new league right in time for her debut EP release. Her breath is an appropriate focal point;


Rayannah’s voice has carved her career to this point and lent itself to commanding her first instrument: loop pedals. “I’ve always been a vocalist – that’s my


first love,” says Rayannah, who studied jazz voice. “But I kind of had a yearning to be a part of a band. “Since I’ve started playing the pedals, I


feel more like part of the band.” Rayannah often is her own band: she


imaginatively layers beat boxing, synths, percussion, and melodic harmonies to form complete songs that can be carried on their own, or incorporate new instruments. Her Boxcar Lullabies EP features strings, piano, train sounds and double basses accompa- nying her vocal creations. Beginning to experiment with loop ped-


als just three years ago, “Boxcar Lullabies” is a tight display of her craft, grown in force and impact by the supporting sounds. At her EP release party in May, at its


peak, she had eight string players onstage with her. “I just wanted to go with the most exciting possible version – the biggest, most extravagant,” she says. As with her EP, certain songs are stripped


down, but she didn’t shy away from specta- cle and grandeur. “Tere’s one song where there must be my voice coming through 30 times,” she says. Rayannah started her career a little backward, touring before having recorded


June 2015 Rayannah performing at the Nu Sound Series.


material to promote – but her commanding stage presence is ready to support a record she’s proud of, that matches her enthusiasm for live performance. “For me, recording and performing is so, so different… (Te EP) felt like I was making art there as much as I am when I’m performing or playing a show. “When really everyone in the room is


feeling the same thing – that’s the moment that I’m living for.” Based on the reaction to her video pre-


miere, everyone is really feelin’ Rayannah. In true Winnipeg fashion, the crisp and


neatly produced look came across with the help of just her longtime friend and videog- rapher, Jonathan Stanners, and her sister, visual artist Caro LaFlamme. “We had just a giant list of ideas and kind of went at it,” she says. The scenes are dynamic, with authentic Winnipeg landmarks locals can pick out. “It’s about our city in a lot of ways,” says


Rayannah, of the single. “I just wanted to be really honest with my video. It’s actually shot in my living room for a lot of cases…


www.smartbizwpg.com


and the rest is places that I go, that I cross super frequently.” Tough other cities’ residents can relate


to the dirt- and snow-filled beginnings of spring, the awkward in-between dress of sopping weather, and a morning coffee


steaming in a ceramic mug, the song and video is an ode to the city Rayannah loves to call home. “Without making it this utopia, for me, it


feeds everything that I need it to feed, and it is everything that I need it to be. “I have no plans to uproot home in the


near future.” Tough her two feet are firmly planted


in the city, Rayannah’s taste for travel gave her momentum as a performer. “I was going travelling and I was like,


‘Maybe I can do some shows.’ “It kind of happened organically… the


tours have gotten more and more exten- sive.” With the EP release, her goals are simi-


larly humble, with unlimited potential to pick up steam. “I think the EP is going to open up doors for me in the (touring) department. “I want to get it into as many ears as pos-


sible,” she says. Visit www.rayannah.ca for more on Ray-


annah’s music. Te Conservative Club of Winnipeg (Est. 1889)


One of the longest continually operating clubs in the British Commonwealth, with roots dating back 125 years.


Te club hosts luncheon meetings 10x per year, each featuring a guest speaker. Recent speakers have included:


M.P. Shelly Glover M.P. Steven Fletcher M.P. Lawrence Toet M.P. Joyce Bateman M.P. Jason Kenny MLA Brian Pallister


MLA Ralph Eichler MLA Myrna Driedger MLA Sid Green MLA Shannon Martin Sen. Terry Stratton David Chartrand


Arlene Wilgosh (WRHA) Col. Joel Ray Mayor Brian Bowman Mayor Sam Katz Dorothy Dobbie Fr. Sam Argenzianno


Contact Rob Harper at conservativeclubwinnipeg@gmail.ca Gregory Burner, President


Smart Biz 7


Special Guest Speaker June 9th Brian Pallister • Leader of the Opposition


Photo by Chris Strong Photography.


Photo by Paul McGeiver


Photo by Carlos Pericas Courtesy of Montuno


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