The Big Dig! Band features top professional Winnipeg musicians in a standard big band format: five saxophones, four trombones, five trumpets, one vocalist and a rhythm section (piano, bass, drums and guitar)— 19 players in all. Steve Kirby and Derrick Gardner are co-leaders; here are their bios as well as bios for all the other permanent members:
STEVE KIRBY (Co-Leader And Double Bass) moved to Winnipeg in 2003 to become the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Manitoba. He became a landed immigrant in 2010. Before arriving here, the jazz bassist had established an enviable career performing, recording, and touring with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Elvin Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Abbey Lincoln, Steve Turre, James Carter, Slide Hampton, Joe Lovano, Lester Bowie, John Hicks, and many others. Now a fixture in Winnipeg's cultural scene, Kirby continues to perform, compose, and record, and to share his passion for jazz with young musicians around North America and in Europe. His newest CD, Stepchild (2012), features the Northern Prairie Jazz Ensemble, and he’s working on a new recording with his third-stream group, the Oceanic Jazz Orchestra. He is the editor of dig! magazine, and the force behind many other jazz initiatives in the city, including the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series, Jazz on Wheels, the Bridge: Music for Life program, the CanU Jazz Academy, the U of M Summer Jazz Camp, and the Cool Wednesday Night Hang.
DERRICK GARDNER (Co-Leader And Trumpet) moved to Winnipeg in 2011 when he was named the Babs Asper Chair in Jazz Performance at the University of Manitoba. His fire and sensitivity on the trumpet has generated an impressive performance history. He’s played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including the Count Basie Orchestra, the Mingus Dynasty Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Frank Foster, Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Barron, and Slide Hampton. With his own band, The Jazz Prophets, he has recorded three CDs. A gifted clinician, he continues to perform and teach around the world, and is already making an impact on the Winnipeg jazz scene. He has performed with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and was a feature artist in the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series. He conducts the University of Manitoba Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Youth Jazz Collective. He has performed with poets for the past few years at the wrap-up of the Winnipeg International Writers Festival.
WILL BONNESS (Piano) is a versatile pianist, and one of Winnipeg’s busiest performers. From his world tour in Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau Band at the age of 17, Will has pursued a career as a jazz artist, working with an impressive array of international musicians, including Regina Carter, Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, and Marcus Printup. He is the youngest member of the Jazz Studies faculty at the University of Manitoba, and performs and records frequently with other members of that group. He has released an acclaimed CD, Subtle Fire, and performs and records frequently with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Chamber Orchestra, and the WSO, as well as many small ensembles.
QUINCY DAVIS (Drums) moved to Winnipeg in 2010 to join the U of M’s Jazz Studies faculty as Assistant Professor of Drum Set. A Michigan native, Quincy established himself as a performing and touring musician before coming to Winnipeg. He has toured extensively with the bands of trumpet master Tom Harrell and pianist Benny Green, and also as a leader. He continues to perform internationally both as a sideman and with his own ensembles; he has made repeated trips to Japan. He also plays frequently in Winnipeg, as part of the house band for the Cool Monday Night Hang, and on in the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances house band. He released his first CD, Songs in the Key of Q, in 2012.
JOCELYN GOULD (Guitar) Jocelyn Gould is a guitarist based in Winnipeg, Canada. She is a recent graduate of the Jazz Studies Program at the University of Manitoba, where she studied with Canadian guitarist Laurent Roy.
Jocelyn has been involved in the creation of several musical projects in Winnipeg including the local R&B group SoulStation and the Franco-Manitobain trio Collage-a-Trois. She maintains an active freelancing career in Winnipeg playing with Winnipeg’s finest musicians.
Jocelyn is an active teacher and maintains a private teaching studio in her home. She has also been involved in several community outreach programs including Jazz On Wheels, a series of concerts and workshops designed with the goal to expose a variety of communities to jazz music, and The Bridge Program, a program that provides music education to kids from the inner-city who may not otherwise have access to a formal music education. She has also worked with Manitoba Artists In Healthcare, a program that brings live music to hospital patients and people living in nursing homes.
ANNA-LISA KIRBY (Vocalist)
Anna-Lisa Kirby cut her teeth as a singer in the 1990s in New York jazz clubs, and has performed across Canada and in Europe. Since 2003, she has been performing and teaching in Winnipeg where she is a frequent featured artist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Oceanic Jazz Orchestra, the Longitude Project, and the U of M Jazz Studies faculty ensemble.
She appears on several recordings, including Anna-Lisa: Shades of Blue (1998), Andy Farber’s Bluesectomy (2008), Larry Roy & Steve Kirby’s Wicked Grin (2009), and most recently Stepchild, the 2012 recording by Steve Kirby & the Northern Prairie Jazz Collective. Her full-concert performances of music by Leonard Cohen and Carol King have packed houses in Winnipeg, and she has performed and taught in Italy.
She is a Jazz Vocal Instructor at the Desautels Faculty of Music, and many of her students have gone on to serious professional careers with a national reach. She is the Coordinator of the Jazz Studies program.
JEFF JOHNSON (Lead Trumpet) teaches band at College Sturgeon Heights Collegiate. He holds both Music and Education degrees from the University of Manitoba and performs as both a freelance musician and lead trumpet player with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, The Ron Paley Big Band and now also the Big dig! Band. He has performance credits with Arturo Sadoval, Bill Watrous, Frank Foster, Louis Bellson, Guido Basso and Bob Brookmeyer. Jeff is an active clinician, guest conductor and adjudicator.
SIMON CHRISTIE (Trumpet) is an up and coming Winnipeg based trumpet player who is quickly making his mark on the city. He is a versatile musician who performs regularly in a variety of genres ranging from reegar to rock. He is an ’09 graduate of the University of Manitoba Jazz Studies Program and has had the opportunity to share the stage with Jon Faddis, The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, The Ron Paley Big Band, Papa Mambo and reggae artist Luciano.
In addition to his performance career, Simon is a talented educator who loves sharing his knowledge of music with the next generation of musicians He teashes alongside Neil Watson for The Bridge at Hugh John McDonald Junior High School, a music program offered throught The University of Manitoba to underserved kids in the inner city.
ANDREW LITTLEFORD (Trumpet) a Vancouver-born trumpet player, is a versatile and busy musician in our community, playing with many different groups. The Dirty Catfish Brass Band, the Ron Paley Big Band, the Winnipeg Jazz Collective, the Andrew Littleford Trio, and the Littleford/Carter Quintet, show his range in the jazz field. He also plays in the Winnipeg Brass Quintet, a classical ensemble, and Kobalt, a contemporary indie group.
BILL KRISTJANSON (Trumpet)
BRAD SHIGETA (Trombone) originally from Winnipeg, Brad moved to New York City in the Fall of 1990 via Montreal. Upon arriving in New York City to study with trombonist Jimmy Knepper, he met legendary Count Basie Orchestra trombonist Benny Powell. Through Benny, he was introduced to Clifford Jordan and was groomed by Benny to take over his chair in the Clifford Jordan Big Band. This led to many international and national tours as well as recordings and film scores with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Dave Holland Big Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks and the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. He currently can be heard re-creating Jack Jenny and Jack Teagarden solos on the soundtrack for Martin Scorcese’s blockbuster movie: “The Aviator” in the fall of 2004, as well as on the newly released CD of swing standards by Danny Aiello. Recently, Brad moved back to Winnipeg where he is a member of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, The Ron Paley Big Band, The Big dig! Band and plays in the pit bands for MTC and other theatre productions.
JOEL GREEN (Trombone) Versatility has always been a top priority for trombonist Joel Green, and it's not difficult to see it in his list of accomplishments - even early in his career. After studying with two of Canada's foremost trombonists - Alastair Kay and Gordon Wolfe - Joel moved quickly to the professional ranks; playing with luminaries such as Andrea Bocelli, Gladys Knight and Colin James. He has played with numerous jazz groups, rock bands, orchestras, contemporary music ensembles and performed on over 100 recordings including work for Q107, OMNI, CBC and Jazz FM. An in-demand pit orchestra musician, he has played dozens of shows including The Full Monty, Dreamgirls, Lord of the Rings and Dirty Dancing.
A full time member of the Air Command Band based in Winnipeg, Joel also keeps very busy playing in the Big dig!Band, The Dirty Catfish Brass Band, The Winnipeg Jazz Collective and The Heavyweight Brass Band.
KARIN CARLSON (Trombone)
BILL GREENE (Trombone)
JON GORDON (1st Alto Sax) moved to Winnipeg in 2013 when he won the position of Professor of Jazz Saxophone at The University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music. A Thelonious Monk award winner, Professor Gordon was recently described by Jazz Improv magazine journalist Brandon Bernstein; “Jon Gordon is a master. His compositions, improvisation, tone, and technical virtuosity set him apart as an elite musician of our time.” Jon Gordon is a prolific recording artist whose CDs have been recognized as among the best by jazz journalists Gene Seymour and Neil Tesser, The Jazz Journal, The Penguin Guide to Jazz, and Down Beat magazine.
Jon has collaborated with the some of the world's leading musicians, and the list includes: Kenny Barron, Ray Barretto, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Benny Carter, Ron Carter, Bill Charlap, Harry Connick Jr., Roy Eldridge, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Hampton, and Christian McBride as well as the New York Pops Orchestra and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
From 2009-2013, Jon was a faculty member at Purchase University where he taught saxophone, jazz harmony, and small ensembles. He has also held teaching positions at the College of the City of New York, the New School, and the Manhattan School of Music.
SHANNON KRISTJANSON (2nd Alto & Flute) (MB) graduated a couple of years ago from the Jazz Studies program at the U of M. She is an accomplished saxophonist and flute player, with strong improvisatory skills and great musicality. She has played with several professional ensembles, including the Oceanic Jazz Orchestra and Jazz on Wheels. She also composes and performs with her own trio, Collage à trois.
NIALL BAKKESTAD-LAGARE (1st Tenor)
NEIL WATSON (2ndTenor) Saxophonist Neil Watson has been an active performer on the Winnipeg music scene for the better part of fifteen years. He has studied with legendary alto saxophonists: Gary Bartz, Miguel Zenon, Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson, and Sherman Irby among others and performs regularly with numerous groups including the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, Moses Mayes, The Ron Paley Big Band, and the Keith Price Quintet. Neil has shared the stage with Miguel Zenon, Curtis Fuller, Rob McConnell, Dave Young, PJ Perry, Terreon Gully, and many other world-class jazz artists. Critics have called Watson, “a bright young player who (wears) his heart on his sleeve along with his talent” (Chris Smith, Winnipeg Free Press). Neil also directs The Bridge, a program through the University of Manitoba that offers music instruction in a classroom setting to inner city children.
KEN GOLD (Bari Sax) saxophonist Ken Gold stays busy with a variety of playing, recording and teaching.He is a member of The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, The Ron Paley Big Band, Papa Mambo, The Danny Kramer Band, The Dave Lawton Society Band and now The Big dig! Band. Recent activities include film soundtrack recording with Glenn Buhr, recording CD’s with Papa Mambo and The WJO. Over the years Ken has worked with many wonderful groups and musicians such as Swing Soniq, Finjan, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Louis Bellson, Bob Brookmeyer, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Dianne Schuur Bill Watrous and John Faddis.