Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 82

 

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 82

Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded by: Andru Valpy, Natty Somers.

Air Date: 06/22/2011 6:00 PM on UMFM 101.5 FM
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Rebroadcast: 06/29/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM

On 82 we spend a little more time on the 2011 TD International Jazz Winnipeg festival and re-cap on some of the opening concerts and shows that we have seen so far.

Earlier in the week, Andru and Natty went down to the free opening weekend for Jazz Fest at Old Market Square. It was there that Natty was introduced to The Noble Thiefs, whom she instantly fell in love with. Though The Thiefs are no strangers to our program, Natty had not yet had a chance to see them preform live before Sunday and was certainly happy to see the Thiefs involvement with the Jazz Festival. Without a doubt, they put on another great show.

Natty wasn't the only one that had discovered a new band at this years festival. While emceeing on Friday night, Andru met and enjoyed the sounds of local Winnipeg musician Sheena.

Within minutes of hitting the cube, Sheena had the dance floor completely filled as she wrapped up the evenings line up. With a combination of her own work and amazing covers of multiple songs, Sheena managed to keep the cube dancing through rain right up until 1:00am.

Though all of the bands that played at the cube for opening weekends were well recieved and talked about, fans certainly seemed excited about The Lytics, The Minsters of Cool, and of course local super-group Moses Mays.  Trio Bembe, Marcos Castillo, and Papa Mambo also added a welcomed wave of heat for their performances on Thursday night. 

The Liptonians, Les Jupes, Royal Canoe and This Hisses were also just some of Winnipeg's own home grown talent that played at this years Jazz Fest and it cannot go without saying that these groups were excited to be a part of the opening weekend. Each brought their own creative talents and presence to the stage and opened up the audiences ears to some of the music that is being made right in their own back yard.

Halfway through the episode, Andru heads down to the Pyramid Cabaret for a second time to tell our listeners a little more about what to expect in the last few days of the Jazz Festival. He also touched on Australian based band Blue King Brown who were playing on Wednesday evening at the Pyramid cabaret, and opened up our inbox for some of your favorite Jazz Fest stories. 

We ended with a sampling of Blue King Brown in the spirit of their upcoming performance.

A big thank you goes out to all of the organizers, bands, volunteers and sponsors that were a part of this years festival, and as always, we look forward to another fantastic year with you in 2012.

-Av