October 18th 2016
The last few months has definitely had some of the most fun stretches of music making this year. The Winnipeg Jazz Festival had a pretty amazing run of fun musical experiences. Not only was it great to play in the smaller intimate venues like Cinematheque and play real improvisational music for the jazz fans, but I also got to play on the outdoor stage for music fans. This year was extra special as I got the opportunity to play on the Burt and Cummings Theatre stage opening for Trombone Shorty with DCBB, and that was quite surreal to say the least…it is so great to see all the support for the arts in this city, not only was there so much great music, but the crowds were fantastic and volunteers made everything run so smoothly! After that wrapped up things started shifting away from Winnipeg a bit, and the following weekend I played at the Saskatoon Jazz Fest which turned out to be another highlight of the summer. DCBB played an afternoon outdoor stage set in a park downtown near the river, similar to the cube in Winnipeg but seemed a little more tucked away. We then played an evening set at The Capitol not too far away where we opened for John Cleary, who I had not heard of up to this point, and ohh man did his trio ever tear it up! For those who are not aware of him either, John Cleary is a pianist/bandleader who has been living in New Orleans for the past 30 years, and perfectly captures the New Orleans sound in his music, it was almost like I was transported! This was the best concert I had seen in a while! I then played again with the fish at Dauphin Countryfest and Winnipeg Folk Fest. Once again the Times Change(d) tent show at WFF was the highlight. The following weekend I played a memorable gig outdoors at Rockin the Red Festival out in Lockport with the WSO Brass Quintet. We played old Dixieland tunes, which was fun, and playing with such high calibour musicians is always a treat! But the real reason why this gig is so burnt into my memory was because a fairly nasty rain storm came through during our set drenching one half of my body/clothes, I was on the end where the wind was coming from…we were forced to stop playing and the 2nd half our set was cut short. The kicker is that I had to wait a set before going back on stage, after the rain cleared, with The “B” Side Champs! The next weekend I went out again with DCBB to the Brandon Folk Festival, which was more nostalgic then anything as that was the very first festival that I ever played in back when I lived in Brandon and was with Nuphunk Orchestra. The crowd was great and the food was delicious! The following weekend DCBB had it’s release for “Big Shiny Brass” at the Park Theatre. Definitely a highlight of the year. The crowd had an amazing energy, and the bands sound was elevated because of it. It was a good night for all involved! We then went on a small week long tour out west which deserves it’s own post (some pictures included from Regina Folk Fest)! After that wrapped up, August seemed to shift into private events and parties with bands including Sunny Roseland, Hot & Dirty Dance Party, “B “ Side Champs, Hot Bottom, and DCBB. The Catfish also just returned from our first tour to the States which also deserves another separate post. Thanks for reading and for all the support!
