Andrew Littleford

We are only a month into the new year and I have already been involved in some great shows and am looking forward to many exciting things that are in the works for 2015! My first few gigs of the new year were a blast and they are definitely going to be hard to top. It started with a huge show at Maws Beer Hall with DCBB. It was brutally cold out that night (aprox -34C) but that did not prevent people from coming out and having a good time with us, the dancing started from the first down beat and kept going until close! Playing for an enthusiastic crowd like that is a big reason why I play music. The next gig I did was the inaugural performance of the Dig! Big Band. This is a newly formed group directed by Derrick Gardner that consists of alot of Winnipeg's best jazz musicians (including the entire U of M Jazz Faculty) and was formed with the intention of being a workshop band. For more info on the band and its concept check out this interview with Derrick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9Ovx-vYz8. After that I got in a car and traveled 6 hours north west to Swan River, MB to work with some of the schools jazz band students. This marks the 3rd consecutive year I have been involved in this jazz weekend and I always have a great time working with these kids. They are so enthusiastic and ready to give improvising or new improvising concepts a try. I directed a younger small group this year and was pleasantly surprised to get grade 7 students who had only been playing their instruments for less then 6 months to improvise! After a 6 hour drive back to Winnipeg on the Sunday of the jazz weekend I went straight to sound check for a show with the Winnipeg Jazz Collective at the Park Theatre which was part of the Nu Sounds Series put on by Jazz Winnipeg. We played an all Canadian program which included many original compositions from members of the band as well as compositions from out of province Canadian composers. Although the music was fairly challenging, I feel the group played very well and brought out the beauty and intention in every piece. It was a very rewarding performance to be apart of. Thanks for checking in! Click on the event page if you want to know where you can see me playing next. Photo credit to Matt Duboff , check out more of his awesome work at http://www.mattduboff.com/

I recently acquired a new (old) trumpet! This is a pretty big deal for me as I have been playing the same horn for nearly my whole trumpet playing life, specifically since grade 10. I wasn’t in a huge hurry to get another horn as I still really liked the horn I was playing (1989 Bach Strad 37, un-lacquered with slight modifications), but I have been on the look out for something with more projection, specifically for when I play with the Dirty Catfish Brass Band. I knew I wanted a Conn of some type as they are know for being build very sturdy and tend to provide more volume with less effort. I started leaning towards a Constellation model for their big bell’s (5 1/8’’) which would get the projection I was looking for, and they are also known to have a warm/dark sound which appealed to me for the more smaller band playing I also enjoy doing. After a few months of checking various dealer sites I ended up finding a nearly mint 1965 Conn Constellation 38B from a dealer (Austin Custom Brass) in Massachusetts. I have had it for a few weeks now and I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable on it, and it is acting exactly the way I had intended it to: for loud/big clubs and small jazz settings. I look forward to playing it for you in the near future!

I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be a featured guest artist with the 2014 Manitoba Junior Honour Jazz Band directed by Anna Penno. It was great to have a chance to work with some of Manitoba's top young jazz musicians, be a part of their honour jazz band experience and hopefully inspire them to take that next step in their development as a musician. The photograph was taken from the July 2014 Manitoba Band Association Newsletter.

I am extremely grateful and excited to be involved in the 2014 TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival this summer with some amazing musicians and groups, playing some great music!

I will be playing with 5 groups during the festival, and will be contributing compositions to 3 of them. Those groups include, the Littleford/Carter Quintet, the Winnipeg Jazz Collective and the Dirty Catfish Brass Band. I will also be playing with the Luke Sellick Expedition and the Ron Paley Big Band.

Tickets are now on sale and you can find more about any of these shows by clicking on the shows link or go to the EVENTS page.

June 12 with the Dirty Catfish Brass Band -
http://jazzwinnipeg.com/FESTIVAL/artists/DIRTY-CATFISH-BRASS-BAND/

June 16 with the Winnipeg Jazz Collective -
http://jazzwinnipeg.com/FESTIVAL/artists/WINNIPEG-JAZZ-COLLECTIVE/

June 19 with the Luke Sellick Expedition -
http://jazzwinnipeg.com/FESTIVAL/artists/LUKE-SELLICK-EXPEDITION/

June 20 with the Littleford/Carter Quintet -
http://jazzwinnipeg.com/festival/artists/littlefordcarter-quintet/

June 21 with the Ron Paley Big Band - http://jazzwinnipeg.com/FESTIVAL/artists/THE-RON-PALEY-BIG-BAND/

I am honored and privileged to be featured in the March/April issue of Dig Magazine, Winnipeg's Bi-monthly jazz magazine! I was interviewed for the Home Cookin' article which interviews a local Winnipeg jazz musician every issue.

I would like to thank Charlene Diehl for writing the article and everyone at Dig magazine for giving me the opportunity to be featured in this great local jazz magazine.

Since moving to Winnipeg from Vancouver, the city has opened it's arms and offered me many great opportunities to grow as an artist and musician and I am very thankful to all that have supported and continue to support me along my musical path!

View an electronic copy online at:

http://www.digmagazine.ca/2014/04/andrew-littleford/