This year’s jazz festival trumpeted as worldly journey of discovery

Jazz Winnipeg knows how to cast (and bask in) the spotlight.

After teasing audiences with headliner announcements since late last year, Jazz Winnipeg announced the full lineup — including 50 artists from eight countries — for the 2026 TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival, which runs June 16-21, at a press conference on Wednesday.

“This year’s festival is all about discovery,” said Jazz Winnipeg’s artistic director Zachary Rushing. “It’s about bringing world-class artists to Winnipeg … and giving audiences something unforgettable.”

The festival’s marquee shows include, on the international side, members of the famous Australian funk-jazz band the Cat Empire (Thurs., June 18, at the West End Cultural Centre), as well as American jazz royalty Miles Electric Band (Sun., June 21, at The Burton Cummings Theatre) and Jason Marsalis Quartet (Fri., June 19, at Desautels Concert Hall).

From Canada, there’s world-class jazz singer Molly Johnson (Wed., June 17, at Desautels Concert Hall) and Winnipeg’s Soul Supreme presenting a tribute to the late neo-soul icon D’Angelo (Wed., June 17, at the Burton Cummings Theatre).

“D’Angelo, one of the great R&B artists, passed away this past year. And so we approached Keisha Booker, who curates the Soul Supreme brand here in Winnipeg, about creating a D’Angelo tribute this year. It’s just turned into a really big show,” Rushing said.

Among ticketed shows, there’s also the Club Room series at the Fort Garry Hotel, which features 10 concert programs across the festival’s six days. Highlights include Jean-Michel Pilc Trio and Robinson Khoury/MŸA, both from France, and the high-flying Winnipeg-born drummer/composer Curtis Nowosad, now based in New York City, as well as Winnipeggers Erin Propp and Larry Roy’s rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life.

Old Market Square, as usual, serves as jazz fest’s party central. Seemingly every nearby venue and back alley lights up with music and people, and audiences wander from these happenings back to the square and its beer garden.

“(It) remains the heart of our festival. It’s free, open to the public, and a vibrant gathering of music and community,” Rushing said.

Local highlights here include Vox Populi, Dr Henry Band, Kelly Bado and Papa Mambo.

The conference brought other upbeat news.

“I’m not immune to the fact that it is April 1 … so please know this is not a joke,” said the fest’s executive director, Angela Heck, at the outset of her remarks. “I’m very pleased to say that this year, we will be posting a healthy surplus for our organization.”

When Heck became Jazz Winnipeg’s ED in 2019 (originally in an interim capacity), she’d inherited a deficit of more than $300,000. Then came the pandemic, bringing new problems of inflation and reduced attendance for the festival.

She relates the organization’s recent successes to its growing international reputation, helping not only to attract big-name artists from abroad, but also to export Winnipeg artists overseas.

Last year, this included taking eight Manitoba delegates, six of them artists, to JazzAhead in Germany.

“Exporting our culture is actually self-diplomacy in action … You can have a dialogue across a trade table, but you can also go out and have a cultural exchange,” she told the Free Press.

While TD Bank Group — Canada’s largest corporate sponsor of jazz festivals for at least two decades — has been pulling back from festivals across the country, Winnipeg’s Jazz Festival still bears its branding, raising the question of how much longer the relationship will continue.

“TD has been a great partner for us,” Heck said. She keeps her cards close to her chest, but signals an openness toward change and fresh relationships.

“We are still a non-profit cultural organization, and the revenue model is shifting,” she said. “We’re always looking for new partners … We’re quite open to having those conversations.”

Tickets for the festival are available at jazzwinnipeg.com.

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