Steve Kirby won’t take credit for creating Winnipeg’s jazz scene. But make no mistake: The founder of the University of Manitoba’s jazz studies program feels he and his colleagues have poured some nitro on the fire.

“The scene is more cohesive and enthusiastic now,” said the Ohio-born 53-year-old, who’s played with the likes of Alvin Jones and Wynton Marsalis.

“Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, and more importantly, everyone wants to know. Pick up an issue of Dig! magazine [published by the jazz studies program]. You’ll see there’s a lot of choice on the menu these days. We’ve created a lot more venues for jazz.”

Examples? The Park Theatre on Osborne Street, for one, which has hosted Jazz Winnipeg’s Nu Sounds Series. Among those featured have been the Keith Price and Curtis Nowosad Quintet, which also played regularly throughout early 2009 at Le Garage Café in St. Boniface.

Both Price and Nowosad have studied under Kirby; hence, the jazz studies program – the only jazz BA program in Canada – has directly fed the growth of the local scene.

Certainly institutions like the Jazz Winnipeg Festival have existed long before Kirby landed. But it was Kirby who, by creating the Monday Night Hang at the former Osborne Freehouse in 2004, established a venue for young cats to jam with seasoned pros in front of a live audience.

This, according to Kirby, was a turning point.

“The Hang made local jazz more popular in Winnipeg.”

One of those most affected was vocalist Amber Epp, a 22-year-old recent jazz studies graduate who’s performed with both the aforementioned Price, as well as local ensemble Papa Mambo. It was through attending one Monday Night Hang that Epp became hooked.

“It was the first time I had ever seen jazz live and I was captivated,” said Epp, who grew up in Steinbach. “It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.”

“ There’s a lot of keeners here.

Steve Kirby

The enthusiasm of his students is something Kirby is quick to highlight.

“There’s a lot of keeners here.”

And that made the U of M the perfect laboratory to concoct his vision for a new jazz program – one that could compete in quality with the most venerable schools in North America, while simultaneously offering an affordable alternative for local and international students.

What’s next for Kirby? First, he’d like to perfect the existing program, which he considers “only three-quarters complete.”

He’s already hired some “young lions” from the New York scene, including saxophonist Jimmy Greene and trumpeter/pianist/drummer George Colligan. Kirby and the university are presently courting even more. A graduate program is another vision on the horizon.

Perhaps above all, Kirby would like to see an actual dedicated jazz club established in the city.

“There have been clubs in Winnipeg over the decades, but not for a long time,” said local one-man institution Ron Paley, of Ron Paley’s Big Band fame. “It’d be great to have one where both local and touring musicians played.”

“The jazz scene in Winnipeg has always been good, to be sure. But now, it’s very, very good – and it’s growing exponentially.”

For more information on jazz in Winnipeg, visit www.jazzwinnipeg.com and www.tinyurl.com/uofmjazz. Jazz on Wheels, Kirby’s musical outreach featuring professional jazz musicians performing for free from the back of a traveling stage, will be at the Sherbrook Street Festival this Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.

Published in Volume 64, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 10, 2009)