Amber Epp, Jazz takes on Blue. Winnipeg, March 29

Posted March 19, 2012

Joni Mitchell has long had an affinity for jazz. She was preparing to make a recording with the great Charles Mingus in 1978, but the bassist, composer and iconoclast died before the disc, Mingus, was finished. Two musicians on that album, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, became longtime friends and collaborators with the iconic Canadian singer and composer.

Local vocalist Amber Epp has an affinity for jazz and Joni Mitchell and she will perform jazz arrangements of Mitchell’s album Blue on March 29, 8 p.m., at Aqua Books. "Some of the songs sound quite different from Joni’s version, but my goal is to carry on the spirit of the original album and put a bit of myself in there, too," Epp says.

Tickets for the Jazz Machine Series, where musicians take a well-known pop or rock album and put a jazzy spin on it, are $10 at Aqua.