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Jazz Winnipeg’s summer festival returns with global stars, local legends and a groove that never quits
From June 17 to 22, the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival is back to light up the city with a dazzling lineup of world-class musicians and homegrown talent. Presented by Jazz Winnipeg, the 2025 festival promises to be a week of adventurous, genre-blending music that crosses continents, styles and venues.
A global lineup of jazz virtuosos and local legends
This year’s headliners include banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda, powerhouse vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, and Afro-jazz innovator Richard Bona. Sharing the stage alongside them are Winnipeg jazz heavyweights such as Will Bonness, Larry Roy, and Brent Parkin.
Zachary Rushing, Jazz Winnipeg’s director of programming, describes the festival’s opening night concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre as “music that swells and grows and morphs—very experiential.” Fleck’s newest trio, featuring harp and drums instead of the traditional rhythm section, showcases original compositions that transform the banjo, harp, and drum kit into “a surprisingly groovy, melodic force.” Rushing highlights, “The harp becomes the bass instrument. And Antonio Sánchez is such a deeply groovy drummer. It’s three virtuosos doing something you’ve probably never heard before.”
At the Desautels Concert Hall, the festival spotlights two standout vocalists. Madeleine Peyroux brings songs from her latest album Let’s Walk, blending jazz, blues and folk in her signature style. Following her, vocalist Jimmy Herrod performs with pianist George Colligan. Rushing shares a personal connection: “Jimmy was my roommate in Seattle. He’s the most extraordinary singer I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Also performing at the Desautels Concert Hall is bassist Richard Bona, a musical polymath from Cameroon known for his lyrical style and jaw-dropping skill that draws comparisons to Jaco Pastorius. “Everything he’s ever heard shows up in his playing,” Rushing notes. “And his new trio is just beautiful—lyrical, soulful, with a lot of African influence.” Bona will also offer a free masterclass at 3 p.m. on the day of his concert, providing a rare learning opportunity for aspiring musicians.
Centennial Series honours jazz icons
Meanwhile, the Fort Garry Hotel hosts the festival’s “Centennial Series,” paying tribute to jazz legends who would have celebrated their 100th birthdays in 2025, including Oscar Peterson, B.B. King, and Mel Tormé. This tradition started post-COVID, with Rushing explaining, “We’ve been curating mini-series with local performers that suit the theme. This one started with Oscar Peterson—he’s a Canadian jazz icon, and we wanted to honour that.”
Winnipeg pianist Will Bonness honours Peterson’s virtuosic legacy with a trio performance. Local blues artist Brent Parkin channels B.B. King—a deeply personal tribute, as Parkin once toured with King and shared a bus with him for over a year. Rushing himself returns to the stage for the first time since 2018 to pay homage to “the Velvet Fog,” Mel Tormé. “He’s the only male vocalist who’s really had a big influence on me,” says Rushing. “Mel’s approach was so lyrical, so inside the music. He wasn’t about bravado—he was a real musician’s musician.” Accompanied by a five-piece band, Rushing will perform swinging arrangements and heartfelt ballads from the Great American Songbook, many in Tormé’s original keys.
International flavour and diverse jazz styles
Beyond these marquee acts, the festival showcases a rich diversity of sounds. Among the international performers is Henk Kraaijeveld, a male jazz vocalist from the Netherlands. Rushing describes his style as “really comes for me sort of out of the, like, post curdling tradition in jazz singing. It’s very adventurous. His songwriting is modern and fresh. And he tackles a lot of interesting themes.” He adds, “He’s a great singer. He’s a great like Bari-tenor singer. He plays with the great bands and sings excellence in English as well.” Rushing also reassures listeners that language won’t be a barrier: “It’s not like you’re going to be sitting there listening to Dutch all night, which could be amazing. Or not as familiar as you are with the Dutch language.”
Kraaijeved's band caught Rushing’s attention at a jazz conference in Germany, where he befriended the pianist and the band. Their music will feature in several Western Canadian festivals this summer.
Another international highlight is the Swedish trio MusicMusicMusic, known for combining humour and human connection in their jazz. Rushing notes, “Jazz is absolutely like a language with a sense of humor in it… Jazz musicians love to tell musical jokes between themselves, quoting things from other songs, playing things in a way that sort of like intentionally out in a fun way.” He emphasizes the importance of showcasing European jazz traditions: “Truly, all across Europe, the scene is strong and it’s different. It’s regional, yeah, but yes, absolutely like Northern Europe in particular has this deep rooted like ECM jazz tradition.”
Spotlight on Canadian jazz legends and intimate collaborations
Canadian talent is well represented with artists from Toronto and Montreal. Pianist Lorraine Desmarie will perform with her trio, paying tribute to Bill Evans. “That’s hers, in fact,” says Rushing. “We have a whole three nights of tribute shows on the festival and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to program that music specifically, but it’s what she’s invested in as an artist at the moment. And certainly the piano tradition that she’s from as well.” Rushing praises Demaray as “really like a Canadian jazz legend, sort of in an unknown way. She’s a member of the Order of Canada, and she does not tour outside of Quebec very often, so it’s a real special treat for us to have her here.”
The Anthony Dalessandro Quartet also appears at the festival, joined by American trumpeter and singer Benny Bannock. “He’s a great musician. It’s a great ensemble on their own. They have had with them as a special guest who really is like a superstar in the jazz world in America. And is playing a lot of like big stages and stuff. So to get that in like a club atmosphere, it’s going to be very, very intimate and very exciting.”
Community jams and vibrant festival atmosphere
No jazz festival is complete without jam sessions, and the Winnipeg festival continues the tradition at The Fort Garry. Guitarist Larry Roy will lead jams on June 21 and 22 starting at 9 p.m. Rushing says, “The jam session is not going to be quite as late night as it has been in maybe some previous years. It’ll run until 11:00-ish, couple hours of jamming.” He adds, “The jam session is an integral part of the Jazz Festival… a place for community building, for meeting and connecting with your musical peers who you may or may not get a chance to play with very often.” On why Roy is the leader, Rushing says, “He knows every song ever written.”
The festival’s main stages in Old Market Square will bring a lively pulse to Winnipeg’s Exchange District, making the entire area hum with jazz energy throughout the week.
This year’s 2025 Jazz Festival is going to be spectacular, totally excellent lineup of music and musicians, a fantastic way to get out into the warm weather and take in some killer music.
For tickets, the full schedule and more information, visit jazzwinnipeg.com.
