It all leads back to the blues, doesn’t it.

 For Heiða Forsyth and Amber Epp, the blues, specifically a raucous Evil Gal Blues, capped a nearly three-hour shared concert Sunday, Oct. 24, in which each of the young jazz singers swung, scatted and sang their way through some of their favourite standards or own compositions.

 The set list ran from Sting to Cole Porter, from Joni Mitchell to Kurt Elling, to Epp’s own Keep Walking, but the common denominator at the Park Theatre was a couple of good singers putting on a concert so they could sing the jazz they love so much. The vagaries of working as freelance musicians, playing a variety of music, means the singers don’t always get to prove their jazz chops. As Forsyth told the full house, “I haven’t sung jazz in a long time, It’s great to stretch my wings.”

 Epp and Forsyth are, obviously, a new generation of singers who, while they still appreciate and perform the American Songbook standards, are including their own tastes in the canon.

Jazz saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins, who was the highlight of this summer’s TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival, turned 80 on Tuesday and celebrates Friday night with a concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

 As Winnipeg jazz fans know, from Rollins’ June 23 concert here, the legend still sounds great as he celebrates a milestone.

 The Village Voice and Wall Street Journal published interesting pieces on Rollins this week to mark his birthday and I have reprised my review of Rollins’ concert and a column based on an interview with him.

Jazz has long had a history of experienced musicians mentoring younger players, and in the days before formal music education it was an effective way to learn the craft, along with countless hours of playing whatever gig you could get, of course.

Even today, with so many public school band programs and university music faculty jazz programs, learning from a pro is still a great way to hone musical skills.

And then, at a certain point, jazz fans get to enjoy the youngsters and their elders onstage performing as equals.

On Tuesday, at Mardi Jazz, 24-year-old trombonist Christopher Butcher led a quartet that included drummer Curt Nowosad, his contemporary in age and experience, and two men of a certain age: pianist Ron Paley and bassist Steve Kirby.

I know there are a lot of musicians in a jazz orchestra, but that shouldn't stop me from naming the right soloist.

In my review of the June 30 TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival performance by New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, I wrongly named the flutist performing on the theme from Taxi Driver. It was Neil Watson, who performed to his usual high standard on alto sax and flute throughout the concert.

Here is the concert review, with Neil in his rightful place.

Call the genre jazz noir, if you will, for the dark images it often supports on the big screen.

Ellis Marsalis and his four jazz playing sons will be awarded a National Endowment for the Arts 2011 Jazz Masters Award as a family.

It’s the first time the U.S. arts organization has made a group award.

The family band is lead by pianist Ellis and includes trumpeter Wynton, saxophonist Branford, trombonist Delfeayo and percussionist Jason.

The other 2011 Jazz Masters are flutist Hubert Laws, saxophonist Dave Liebman, composer and arranger Johnny Mandel, and record producer and author Orrin Keepnews. The awards ceremony will be held in January in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

It’s jazz festival time and there are always enticing big-name acts, like the June 23 performance by tenor saxophone legend Sonny Rollins, but let’s not forget the local big names who perform throughout the 10 days of the annual celebration of the best music there is.

So when you’re planning your night(s), include some of the following homegrown acts:

Friday, June 25Steve and Anna-Lisa Kirby and Friends, Rachel Browne Theatre, 9 p.m., $15The Chuck McClelland Unit, Le Garage Cafe, 9 p.m., $15The Doug Edmond Band, Aqua Books, 9 p.m., $15Luke Selleck Quartet, Old Market Square, 8:30 p.m., free

Saturday, June 26Mira Black and the Lush Life Cabaret, Le Garage, 9 p.m., $15Steve Hamilton, Aqua, 9 p.m., $15Helen White and Friends, Old Market, 8:30 p.m., free

Sunday night’s Collaborate... Create... Compose! was a jazz show with a dual purpose.

It was a concert of creative, collaborative music performed by a sextet playing a host of instruments, and a tutorial on the creative process of the four composers: Janice Finlay, Michelle Grégoire, Lianne Fournier and Danielle Baert.

If the detailed descriptions of the musical process went over some heads, the music itself was entertaining, mostly engaging and required listeners to pay attention.

The show was the last of Jazz Winnipeg’s Nu Sounds series at the Park Theatre and an apt way to close out series designed to promote and present, well, new sounds.

Supporters of a life-sized bronze statute of jazz great Oscar Peterson have raised $80,000 of their $210,00 goal.

And the statue of the legendary pianist, to be located beside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, has been given the official stamp from the city’s transportation committee.

Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy, who also created the sculpture of Manitoba Theatre Centre co-founders John Hirsch and Tom Hendry here, said the idea behind putting the statue of Peterson sitting on a bench beside a grand piano outside the NAC is to encourage passersby to sit beside it and “play a duet.”

The statue of Peterson, the terrific pianist who gave Canada an international presence in the jazz world, will be unveiled June 30 as part of Canada Day celebrations.

Ever wish you'd had the chance to sit at a piano with the great OP? It will be possible soon.

Oscar Peterson, the terrific pianist who gave Canada an international presence in the jazz world, will be immortalized with a life-size bronze sculpture outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy, who also created the sculpture of Manitoba Theatre Centre co-founders John Hirsch and Tom Hendry here, said the idea behind putting the statue of Peterson sitting on a bench beside a grand piano outside the NAC is to encourage passersby to sit beside it and "play a duet."

A fundraising campaign was launched Wednesday to raise $210,000 for the project, which has been supported by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen, among the first to contribute (who knew the PM had jazz cred).

The Juno Awards nominations were announced Wednesday and jazz, despite having three categories, gets little attention — unless you count New York-based Diana Krall whose recording Quiet Nights was nominated as album of the year and vocal jazz album of the year, and who herself was nominated as artist of the year.

Jazz gets the same treatment in the American Grammy Awards and closer to home in the Western Canadian Music Awards; it’s always included, but way down the list where its loyal fans know to look for it.

But instead of whining about jazz being dissed in favour of “popular” music, let’s celebrate some great Canadian jazz musicians and recordings vying for an award at the Juno show, set for April 18 in St. John’s, N.L.

I’ve even gone looking for the nominations for you:

Europeans, especially the French, have long embraced American jazz musicians, many who fled racism in the U.S. and were pleased at the reception they and their music received.

But New York City remains jazz mecca, so it is no surprise that French saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh ended up there, performing, learning, leading bands and going on the road to far-flung outposts like Winnipeg.

Sabbagh, with bassist Ben Street and drummer Victor Lewis, upped the ante Feb. 23 at Mardi Jazz, the weekly jazz spot at Centre culturel franco-manitobain. Thanks to funding from Alliance Française, for the price of your drink(s) and popcorn, you got a great trio (think about when you're likely to see and hear someone of Lewis's calibre here again).

All three musicians were very good, but Lewis was the main draw with his talent and depth of experience. The evening felt like a night out at a NYC club despite the familiar Mardi Jazz surroundings.