Jazz Winnipeg announces first batch of headliners for 35th summer festival

It’s the 35th anniversary for one of Winnipeg’s most beloved summer festivals, and organizers have unveiled the first wave of big shows headed downtown this June.

The Winnipeg International Jazz Festival, which runs June 14-22, has announced five of its marquee international performers slated for gigs at Knox United Church and the historic Burton Cummings Theatre.

“For our 35th year, we’re going to continue to groove together in downtown Winnipeg with artists that represent the breadth of what’s exciting in the contemporary jazz world,” said Jazz Winnipeg’s executive director, Angela Heck, in a release.

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Headliners include the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a New Orleans mainstay since the early 1960s, who hit the stage at the Burt on June 20, with local woodwind specialist Sean Irvine’s Kind Neighbours project in the opening slot.

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Virtuosic U.S. vocalist Veronica Swift is at the theatre two days later, backed by French-American singer Laura Anglade.

Over at Knox United, in the Central Park area, jazz Afrofuturists Isaiah Collier + The Chosen Few perform with an opening set by rising local sax player INGIA on June 14.

Contemporary jazz master Benny Green performs solo piano, with Juno-winning Winnipeg guitarist Jocelyn Gould in the opening spot June 15, and Italian-born jazz guitarist Pasquale Grasso and his trio play June 17, with local support from Free Time.

Tickets for the headlining shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster (Burton Cummings Theatre) and Showpass (Knox United Church).

Click to play video: 'Local composers bring internationally inspired music to Winnipeg'

Local composers bring internationally inspired music to Winnipeg

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