Asper jazz series adds Grammy pizzazz for 20th season

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This article was published 27/04/2018 (3053 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series has some big plans for the 2018-19 season, its 20th anniversary.

They’re getting the party started on Sept. 15 and 16 at the Berney Theatre with piano great and composer Marcus Roberts, who has released 24 albums during his 20-year recording career, including his latest, 2017’s Trio Crescent: Celebrating Coltrane. Roberts has also been a main collaborator with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and has performed on 10 of his records.

On Oct. 13 and 14, New York singer Jazzmeia Horn, the first of two 2018 Grammy Award nominees during the Asper Series season, performs at the Berney. The 26-year-old Horn has won both the Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition in 2013 and the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Competition in 2015. Her 2017 album, A Social Call, earned her the Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal album as well as an appearance at the awards ceremony in January.

Next up is New Mexico guitarist Raul Midon, the second 2018 Grammy nominee on the Asper Series bill, who plays the Berney Theatre on Dec. 1 and 2. His latest recording, 2017’s Bad Ass and Blind, references his lifetime of blindness and his jazz career, which includes nine albums to date.

On April 6, 2019, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra takes the stage at the ­Winnipeg Art Gallery. The orchestra, which has had a Monday-night big-band residency at the famed Village Vanguard nightclub in New York for the past five decades, has included a who’s-who of jazz over the years, including its founders, drummer Mel Lewis and trumpeter Thad Jones.

Subscriptions are available by phone at 204-477-7534 or by visiting radyjcc.com.

The final shows in the Asper Jazz Performances’ 2017-18 season take place May 12 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery when the Hot Sardines play sets at 3:30 and 8 p.m.

alan.small@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @AlanDSmall