Ariel Posen meets Tom Jones

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This article was published 11/05/2023 (1227 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not unusual to find Ariel Posen performing his songs on YouTube, or showing off some of his sophisticated six-string licks for online guitar magazines.

But it was unexpected to see a Facebook video posted by the Winnipeg singer-songwriter in which he shares a stage with Tom Jones — ahem, that would be Sir Tom Jones — and adding some slick guitar fills while the Welsh great performed his classic It’s Not Unusual, May 7 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

“Been having a lovely time out on the road with Tom Jones and crew,” Posen posted alongside the crowd-shot video, which can be viewed here.

Posen has a busy summer ahead, performing solo in the United Kingdom and continental Europe before returning to North America for a four-month tour, which includes a Sept. 29 concert at the Park Theatre.

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Some of Canada’s top jazz performers will be descending upon the city for the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival’s club series, which runs June 21-24 at the Royal Albert Arms.

Among the artists are Calgary vocalist Caity Gyorgy, the 2022 vocal jazz Juno Award winner; Marika Galea, the Toronto-born bassist who is now on the faculty at Brandon University’s school of music; a trio of Montrealers: pianist Kate Wyatt, violinist Aline Homzy and pianist and composer Gentiane MG; the Ostara Project, which is billed as a Canadian female jazz supergroup that includes Winnipeg guitarist Jocelyn Gould; and the Jon Gordon Group, led by the University of Manitoba saxophone prof and 2022 Juno Award nominee.

The festival’s blues weekend at the Pyramid Cabaret (June 23-24) showcases Winnipeg artists such as Romi Mayes, Big Dave McLean, the Perpetrators and the Chris Ghidoni Band, but also features Ontario guitarist Suzie Vinnick and Australia’s Lloyd Spiegel.

The Dave Barber Cinematheque is the venue for the festival’s future-stars shows, an all-Winnipeg lineup that includes INGIA, an alto saxophonist who moved to Winnipeg from South Sudan; the Patrick Coyston Quartet; the Wild Rice Quartet; and the Dan Keding Septet.

Finally, the jazz fest’s Spirit of ’73 Series, a four-night event at the Fort Garry Hotel’s club room that features city groups interpreting famous albums from 50 years ago, has added Ego Spank, which will take on Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, and Erin Propp and Larry Roy performing Band on the Run, Paul McCartney and Wings’ classic.

Previous announced acts for Spirit of ’73 include Vox Populi performing Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions and Apollo Suns tackling Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

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Talking about Apollo Suns, the nine-piece Winnipeg jazz-rock group is heading out to the edge of the solar system with its new single, Pluto, which drops Friday.

Pluto will be Apollo Suns’ debut with the Toronto indie label Do Right! Music. A new album, Departures, is scheduled for a fall release.

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Jerry Sereda, the Treaty 1 country singer, educator and counsellor, honours those who have supported him over the years with a new single, Lighthouse, which drops Friday.

“Sometimes we need to listen to what other people see in us, because other people can show us the value we can’t see in ourselves,” Sereda says in a release. “We’re quick to see our faults but not our strengths.”

It will be the third single from a new album, his fifth studio record, scheduled for June.

Alan.Small@freepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall