Imagine a package inside of which you find drive, determination, passion, and keen respect. Every time you open that package, the same beautiful elements appear. The order may change, but they are always there. Bernie Senensky plays with every element in that package, and he plays that way every single time.

He’s a Winnipegger by birth, and there’s always something good about that. There’s a sensibility of independence by geography and a city with a culture that fostered, and continues to foster, some of the best. Best of the West: You’ll hear that said and feel it in the many styles and genres of music from that Canadian cultural jewel — it’s a Manitoban thing. That cultural pulse is rich in the heart and soul of its favoured artists, whether homegrown or once home-based: Bachman, Cummings, Breau, Downes, Majoko, Nowosad, Roberts, Bif Naked, Bickert, Kreviazuk, Greaves, and so many more.

Senensky’s paths to successes and experiences with giants of jazz are broad and various. His travels along those paths are fuelled by a deep foundation. It is not just the cultural buoyancy of an arts community that is the story of his richness; it is his early musical background plus a depth of determination, passion, drive, and keen respect. It’s that package of those special elements that makes his artistry the embodiment of an artist’s life made various by experience.