Musicians plan fundraising splash at Aqua

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Saxophonist Niall Bakkestad-Legare will be joining other musicians to record a fundraising CD at Aqua Books on March 2.

When Aqua Books moves to its new location on Princess Street in April, operating under the non-profit Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall, Inc., the jazz musicians are going with it.

And on March 2, many of the city's jazz players will record a fundraising CD, Farewell 274, at the current 274 Garry St. location to help bankroll the new venture.

Aqua owner Kelly Hughes has provided a venue for jazz for the last couple of years, allowing musicians to perform original material and giving young players a stage. Now the musicians want to pay back that support.

Drummer Curtis Nowosad, one of the forces behind the project, said the Aqua room, where he recently did a demo recording, sounds great and the CD is a way to preserve that sound before the current location closes.

Nowosad had a March 2 gig booked before the recording idea started to take shape.

The young musician gives four reasons for the CD project: To showcase the great jazz artists in the city; put the Aqua space to good use before it is lost; raise money for the new non-profit; and make the public aware that Aqua isn't shutting down, but moving. Aqua's new location will feature a theatre, bar and workshop space.

All the musicians -- and Nowosad has a long list -- are donating their time. "We're encouraging everyone to do originals," the drummer says, because it avoids having to pay licensing fees while it showcases their music.

He is working on a distribution deal with local stores such as McNally Robinson Booksellers, Into the Music, Music Trader and, of course, the new Aqua. He expects the CD will be available around Christmas.

Tickets for the March 2, 8 p.m., show, are $20 (which includes an mp3 download when the recording is ready) or $25 (includes a CD).

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Little did guitarist Aaron Shorr know that he'd be Still Crazy After All These Years when his father first exposed him to the 1975 Paul Simon recording. "Dad always had it on in the car. I've been listening to Paul Simon since I was a little kid," Shorr says.

Shorr has jazzed up the classic Simon album and will perform it 8 p.m. Thursday, at Aqua Books leading a quartet with drummer Kaleb Kirby, bassist Luke Sellick and pianist Will Bonness, with singer Sheen Rattai on four or five songs. Shorr says he reworked some of the tunes, leaving the others as they were originally played. The album includes tunes such as 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Gone at Last, and Silent Eyes.

A lot of Simon tunes have been played by jazz musicians, he adds, citing pianists Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and Brad Mehldau. "It is such rich and interesting music that has become so popular," Shorr says.

Tickets are $10, available at Aqua Books, 274 Garry St.

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The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra will kick off its 2012-13 season Oct. 14 with a nod to Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd big band with Canadian composer and arranger Fred Stride.

Trumpeter and arranger Michael Philip Mossman joins the WJO Nov. 18 for Mambo Nights. He arranged and conducted Mambo Nights with Arturo Sandoval with the WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany, in 2008.

The band performs a Glen Miller Christmas on Dec. 9, trumpeter John MacLeod joins it for A Night at the Rex on Feb. 17, pianist-composer Nikolaj Bentzon is the guest for 1001 Arabian Jazz Nights on March 24, and the season closes with King of Swing, May 12, with clarinetist Ken Peplowski.

The WJO performs Sunday concerts at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available from 632-5299, winnipegjazzorchestra.com or McNally Robinson Booksellers.

chris.smith@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 21, 2012 D5