Getting brassy and sassy in Winnipeg with The Dirty Catfish Brass Band

There's a new group on the Winnipeg block. It's called The Dirty Catfish Brass Band and it's bringing the sounds of the bayou up north! 

In the grand tradition of brass bands from New Orleans, The Dirty Catfish Brass Band excites  audiences and since their instruments are somewhat portable the musicians can go almost anywhere you want them to.

SCENE asked the band's leader Todd Martin a few questions about this nine piece group.

• WATCH: Real to Reel Film Festival in Winnipeg aims to make a real difference

  

  The aim of the Real to Reel Film Festival  is to challenge and inspire people towards positive values and greater understanding
  
  From Christian films to documentaries that challenge our beliefs, the festival is a real bargain as well.  For twenty dollars, your entire family can see all forty films from around the world. That includes films like the apocalytpic thriller film Jerusalem Countdown and the faith-based drama about a troubled teen called Saving Winston.
  
  The bonus is there's no swearing, no nudity and no violence.  In fact, the festival bills itself as "Cool, Clean and Compelling." 
  
  Paul Boge is the festival coordinator. He's also a filmmaker and an author. He told host Marcy Markusa of Information Radio that the festival is a fundraiser.  "All the proceeds go to either Siloam Mission or  Union Gospel Mission to help some of the poorest people in our community have a chance to get up.  To me I love it because you can watch a movie and make a difference to somebody's life."

• Manitoba artist Linus Woods paints the "Elk Dreamers Dream"

  

  In Linus Woods dreams' spaceships, horses and warriors in traditional dress clash together in bold brilliant color. The past and the future combine in ways that are similar to the reality we know but are drifting and twisting away from reality. Like the dreams of an Elk.
  
  Urban Shaman Gallery is displaying a new exhibit, called Elk Dreamer's Dream, by First Nations visual artist Linus Woods. The Dakota/Ojibway artist who comes from the Long Plains First Nation, Manitoba,  says, "I've painted some subjects that I've always wanted to paint and I've always wanted to paint for this show. Things I paint on my cave wall. What would compel me to paint this on my cave wall?"
  
  His work leaps off the canvas in bold and brilliant colours. In one work, a horse with bizarre proportions drifts upon a city scape. In another a First Nations man with an eagle feather in his head dress while he deftly surfs across a massive multi colored wave.  The works exhibited in Elk Dreamers Dream challenge and define what it means to be a First Nations visual artist.
  
  
  

• Winnipeg Aboriginal hip-hop group Dead Indians re-unite for live show

  

  Dead Indians. Live. That's the name of my next show in Winnipeg. It marks the first official show I've done in more than 3 years with the guys I started rapping with.
  
  The name Dead Indians comes from an old American cavalry saying during the times of the Indian Wars that "the only good Indians are dead Indians". We decided to reclaim that terribly racist phrase and take away it's power. Over time it grew to have other meanings as well. It became a homage to our ancestors. It also was a jab at people who say that our culture is dead. Great. Everything you say bad about us, that's what we are. And still we shine.

  
  

• Manitoba author captures "Spirit of the North" in latest book

  

  Imagine being given a remote cabin in Northern Manitoba.  That's what newlyweds Wilson and Judith are offered through a family estate.  They decide to seize the opportunity and they end up in a life of hunger, isolation and harsh weather.
  
  That's the subject of author Linda Ducharme's new novel "Spirit of the North".
  
  SCENE asked Linda Ducharme to share an excerpt.  She chose one that captures the loneliness, the beauty and the essence of her novel's remote location in winter.
  
  Alone with her thoughts, and only the mare for company, Judith kept busy. She counted on the days flying past, which they seemed to, but the nights were so long, dark and lonely. When it became bitterly cold Judith took some extra oats out to Jazzy. The crunch of snow beneath feet, the mare chomping the grain, and the odd popping of frozen trees - little interrupted the eerie silence. Frost sparkled on the tree branches lit by the twilight in the southern sky, looking like a thousand candles lighted on sparkling Christmas trees.

• Music teacher inspires children to reach new heights in Winnipeg

  

  "I love what I do for various reasons," relates Marcelline Moody, a long-time performer, composer, arranger and teacher in Winnipeg. "Mostly because I believe that the classical arts provide beauty and elegance in our lives and no one could say that there is too much of these in the world - quite the contrary - so by introducing kids to 'classical' music, dance, art, drama, and encouraging them to make the arts part of their lives, we make the world a better place."
  
  Moody's been called "The mother of music in Manitoba" by the Winnipeg Free Press. Having worked for decades in the Winnipeg school system, the teacher has spear-headed large-scale collaborative works involving children from many schools. This diminutive bundle of energy and creativity has touched the lives of tens of thousands of students in Winnipeg.
  
  "By involving kids in music making in such a hands-on and active way, I hope we areencouraging audiences for the future," says Moody.
  
  

  Marcelline Moody is currently working with elementary school children, helping them discover how music inspires dance, imagery, movies and movement. It's all in preparation for performances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 22 and 23. Concerts will also feature an aerial artist, a variety of dancers.

  
  

• Winnipeg children's entertainer thinks jazz musicians can learn a lick or two from kids

  

  Renowned entertainer Al Simmons is performing Feb. 18 at the Park Theatre with three of Winnipeg's finest jazz musicians, including the maestro himself, Ron Paley on accordion.
  
  Al has had a long standing love affair with jazz and he gets downright philosophical here on SCENE looking at how jazz musicians could learn a lick or two from children and vice-versa.
  
  Here's Al Simmons :
  Healthy and happy young kids have a natural free flowing playfulness about them. The fact that kids do not yet understand the complexities of communication doesn't stop them from talking. They can begin a sentence without a care in the world as to where it will end up. To us it sounds like a jumble of thoughts and made up words but it is free flowing jazz in its purest form.
  
  Their play is the same. Imaginations run rampant. Anything is possible. Every moment a new task is explored and sometimes conquered. If two children are playing well together they take turns and work cooperatively. Cooperation is key, and at a young age they seem to understand and often play by a few simple rules.
  
  See the rules.