She's singing the praises of her Cuban immersion

Singer Amber Epp spent three months in Cuba during the winter to study piano and Cuban rhythms.

And, along with escaping a Winnipeg winter, she got an unexpected bonus: a set of Cuban "grandparents."

"Most people in Winnipeg know me as a singer, but I'll play piano more and more," she said.

Epp studied piano while taking her bachelor's degree in music from the University of Manitoba and will return to the U of M in the fall to do post-baccalaureate work in piano.

She started her educational sojourn in Cuba by studying montuno piano style (found in salsa music) with one teacher, then added a few more. "Musicians are very easy to find in Havana," Epp says.

So easy in fact, when Epp and a friend were walking down a street in old Havana listening to the music coming from bands playing on patios, in restaurants and lounges, her friend called out in Spanish "This girl is a singer" and Epp was asked to sit in with a Cuban band.

"A few days later another group of musicians I didn't know asked me to play," Epp adds. She also played piano for a tre (three-stringed guitar) player named Coto for two weeks.

Epp stayed with a Cuban family, sort of a B&B arrangement, and ate with them and lived in a safe neighbourhood and was "adopted" by them.

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Winnipeg guitarist Keith Price and the members of his quintet have been invited to Montreal to perform in the Montreal International Jazz Festival's Grand Prix for Independent Artists, which includes a chance to win $5,000, recording time and a gig opening for Dave Brubeck.

But first, the band could use a little help getting there.

Price's quintet -- pianist Will Bonness, saxophonist Neil Watson, drummer Curtis Nowosad and bassist Julian Bradford -- will perform at a fundraiser June 7 at the Park Theatre to help offset travel and accommodation expenses, the guitarist said. Tickets are $10 at the door.

Price sent copies of his debut CD, Breakfast of Champions, to jazz festivals across the country soliciting bookings and was more than pleasantly surprised to be invited to perform in the Grand Prix, a competition he didn't know existed. But the invitation came too late to get one of a limited number of travel grants from the Canada Council, so band members are hoping the performance fee and fundraising show will allow them to break even on the trip, Price says.

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Tunnel Six, a sextet of young jazz musicians from Canada and the U.S., performs tonight at Mardi Jazz at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre at 8:30 p.m.

The group, which formed when its members met at a workshop at the Banff Centre, includes saxophonist Ben Dietschi and guitarist Brian Seligman from Toronto, bassist Ronald Hynes from Halifax, trumpeter Chad McCullough from Seattle, pianist Andrew Oliver from Portland and drummer Tyson Stubelek from New York.

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Pianist and composer Glenn Buhr will debut a new trio tomorrow with a concert featuring recent work of his own and what he describes as "creative remixes of music by Thelonious Monk, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits."

The show with Buhr, Gilles Fournier on electric bass and Daniel Roy on drums and percussion is being recorded and filmed live for CD/DVD. The show is Wednesday, May 26, 7:30 p.m., Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, University of Winnipeg, $15 at the door.

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In what it calls a crossover concert, the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society will feature French composer Claude Bolling's suite for violin and jazz trio on June 1 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery as part of its annual Mozart and More! festival.

Violinist Gwen Hoebig, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, will perform with the Steve Kirby Trio: pianist Will Bonness, drummer Curtis Nowosad and bassist Kirby.

Bolling wrote a series of pieces for a jazz trio to perform with a high-profile classical players, including flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The concert also presents the piano quartet of Robert Schumann, whose 200th anniversary is being celebrated this year.

Tickets for the June 1, 7:30 p.m., concert are $18 for adults and $10 for students by calling the WSO box office at 949-3999. There is a two-concert package for $25/$10 (the second concert is Thursday, June 3, featuring works by Mozart and Mendelssohn).

chris.smith@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 25, 2010 d6