The 2023 Winnipeg Jazz Festival continued on into the Weekend with some fabulous shows. There were two fantastic headliners at the Burton Cummings Theatre and more great free shows at The Cube in Old Market Square.
Saturday night at the jazz festival brought the legendary Angelique Kidjo to the Burton Cummings Theatre. The five time Grammy Award winner is called “Africa’s Premier Diva” by Time Magazine and they named her one of the world’s most influential people in 2021. Her music blends American R&B, funk, and jazz with West African traditional music. Opening the show was local Franco-Manitoban singer Kelly Bado who was names Francophone and Global Artist of the Year at the 2021 Western Canadian Music Awards. One Sunday night, Postmodern Jukebox brought their ‘Life in the Past Lanes’ tour to the jazz festival. PMJ mixes vintage music with modern songs and always brings a party to wherever they perform.
Old Market Square was hopping all weekend with two full days of music at The Cube. Saturday kicked off with the Eric St. Godard E3 Trio bring some jazz to Saturday afternoon. They were followed by locals The GreyJays and Tetyana Haraschuk. A definite highlight of the day was getting to check out The Astronomics a young up-and-coming group on the Winnipeg scene blending jazz, R&B, and neo-soul into a great new sound.
Sunday at The Cube highlighted three great artists on the local scene. Bluebloods highlighted the powerful vocals of Courtney Fox while Indigenous singer-songwriter Ila Barker brought a new sound to the jazz festival. Closing out the night were local favourite Sweet Alibi. The roots/pop sound of this trio scored them the Roots Duo/Group Artist of the Year at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards.
