This encore performance (from our 2019-20 season) is a special request of the WECC and has become a holiday tradition in Winnipeg. The entertaining program, narrated by Quinn Greene and featuring vocalist Jayme Giesbrecht, is our own WJO version of the famous Charlie Brown Christmas story.
With a voice that stirs your soul, and a conviction behind the music, Jayme Giesbrecht encapsulates soul and gospel music with every note she sings.
With a 20 year career already on her resume, Jayme has grown into the “big voice” that brought her so much attention as a child. From church stages, to exploring different styles of music with various musicians, taking on techniques in rock n’ roll, soul, and jazz added to her full voice.
Her repertoire has broadened from traditional gospel spirituals and hymns, to soul classics from Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and Tina Turner, and jazz standards which she performs with her accompanist Jonathan Alexiuk. With the help of some amazing musicians including Alexiuk, and blues man JP Lepage, Jayme was able to record and release her debut album “To Keep You From Falling” in 2016. (Produced by John Paul Peters at Private Ear Recording, Winnipeg).
That album was sponsored by Golden West, a broadcasting company that Jayme is closely connected to, as she co-hosts the morning show on CFAM 950, for the past 9 years. She has become well-known “on the air” as a knowledgeable advocate for Manitoba musicians, as she interviews new artists every week to highlight on the weekly program “Made in Manitoba”.
Becoming a frequent flyer with pianist Jonathan Alexiuk led Jayme to more opportunities, eventually gaining her access to the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra stage, where she performed as a guest in their “Charlie Brown Christmas” special. She has also connected with Blues Man and Member of the Order of Canada, Big Dave McLean, and has performed multiple shows with him. She has also opened for April Wine, The Beach Boys, and popular gospel groups like The Booth Brothers, Legacy Five, and Sweet Presence. Her most recent performance highlights include collaborating and singing back-up vocals for two-time Grammy nominated Hip-hop artist Fresh IE at a Juno celebration concert in 2020, and most recently at a Canada Day livestream on Investors Group Field, the home of reigning Grey Cup Champions, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
With the local success of her debut album, Jayme is set to release a second album in the jazz/gospel style in 2020, and plans to tour the album in Canada. In the meantime, Jayme regularly performs at various jazz and gospel venues in Southern Manitoba.
Dr. Richard Gillis and Sasha Boychouk founded the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (WJO) in 1997, inspired by a vision of forming a professional big band with the best emerging and veteran musicians in Winnipeg.
Gillis and Boychouk were the right people at the right time, but the WJO also owes its roots to the collective efforts of many passionate stakeholders including the musicians, board members, volunteers and administrators who sensed a potential audience that was not being served. Their familiarity with the Winnipeg music environment (the key players, the marketplace, and the community’s appetite for jazz) gave them confidence in the capabilities of local musicians and out of that natural savvy and inherent enthusiasm, the WJO was born.
Commissioning new works and connecting with and inspiring students and young musicians is an integral part of the WJO vision. Today, the orchestra roster boasts 16 to 25 Winnipeg-based musicians whose combined resumes touch every corner of performance jazz locally, nationally, and around the world. WJO’s popularity has grown steadily over the course of the band’s history, from small, informal events in 1997 to a multi-concert season and sold-out performances at various venues around Winnipeg and in outlying communities.
Doors - 6:45pm
Show - 7:30pm
Tickets
$35.00 - $45.00
All tickets subject to ticket fees