Cory Healey © Andrea Canter

On Saturday, April 19, at 7 pm, Jazz at Studio Z presents the Cory Healey 4tet featuring Healey on drums, trumpeter Jake Baldwin, guitarist Zacc Harris, and bassist Erik Fratzke. The band will perform a selection of works by Healey, as well as Charlie Parker, Tony Williams, Charles Lloyd, Bob Dylan and more. An hour before the concert at 6 pm, Healey will lead a free presentation of "Bol: An Introduction to Indian Rhythmic Syllables." Jazz at Studio Z is a nearly monthly concert/workshop series curated by Zacc Harris and funded through a grant from the Metropolitan Region Arts Council. This is the third season of Jazz at Studio Z, a rehearsal and performance space managed by the Zeitgeist ensemble in Saint Paul's Lowertown.

Tanner Taylor©Andrea Canter

It's often said that creative musicians march to the beat of a different drummer. For the trio of Tanner Taylor, Zacc Harris and Jay Epstein, the beats move Counterclockwise -- their long-running organ trio that takes the spotlight in the Friday night Bridge Series at Jazz Central on April 18th. This is a not-too-often opportunity to hear piano master Taylor on his other instrument, the B-3 organ.

Dennis Spears©Andrea Canter

Dennis Spears and Ginger Commodore will be celebrating Dennis's birthday on April 18th at the Dakota Jazz Club, and want you to share in the fun. Two of the four members of Moore by Four and easily two of the most popular singers in the metro area, Ginger and Dennis have partnered at the Dakota more than a few times before, and each time out, it's an Earthquake of sound, energy and emotion. "Bring the deodorant cuz it's gonna get funky!!!" they warn us!

John Pizzarelli©Andrea Canter

Back to back shows at Minnesota Orchestra Hall this weekend highlight two vastly different styles that fall within the genres of vocal jazz and improvised music. Although he died nearly 50 years ago, Nat King Cole remains a major influence in modern music. Both his smoky tenor voice and string of hit tunes made him, literally, "Unforgettable." Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli, two giants of jazz, a generation apart, join together to salute Cole with a show named after his first hit album, Straighten Up and Fly Right, on Friday, April 18.  On Saturday, April 19, a very different, equally influential voice comes direct to the stage as vocal innovator Bobby McFerrin presents music from his latest project, spirityouall, an amalgam of jazz, bluegrass, progressive rock, baroque and world music.

Kurt Rosenwinkel

The Kurt Rosenwinkel trio will apprear at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on Tursday, April 17th through Sunday, April 20th with sets at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. nightly plus an additional 4:30 p.m. show on Sunday.

Avery Burdette with the Ron Levy Trio, L-R: Merola, Burdette, May and Levy. (Photo: Carolyn Yarnell)

Some of the best jazz in Orange County can be found at several venues there.  The Tee Room in Newport Beach, located on Newport Beach Golf Course,  is one of these beautiful venues, offering jazz on Monday evenings.  Vocalist Avery Burdette and the Ron Levy Trio perform on the second Monday of every month.   Our visit Monday, March 10, 2014, was productive and included dinner and a show for $20.00 per person – a very reasonable bargain!

Black Elk's Dream

Twin Cities native and alum of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, drummer Matt Slocum has established himself as one of his generation's most effective composers and bandleaders.  With composition grants from the American Music Center, the Puffin Foundation, Meet the Composer Foundation and more, Slocum gained high praise for his first two recordings as leader, Portraits (2009) and After the Storm (2011), both on the Chandra Records label. Where Portraits featured a trio of rotating horns to augment the rhythm section, the second release focused on the core trio, both boasting long-time collaborators Gerald Clayton (piano) and Massimo Biolcati (bass). Yet central to both recordings were Slocum's magical compositions - lyrical voicings, assertive rhythms, subtle shadings and bold statements, reflecting not only the drummer's talents as a drummer, but the skills as writer and arranger that set him apart from most of his peers, regardless of instrument. Returning to the quartet and quintet format, with frequent collaborators Walter Smith III and Dayna Stephens rotating on saxophones, Slocum brings us a new project inspired by the visionary Native American leader Black Elk and the book Black Elk Speaks, appropriately titled Black Elk's Dream (Chandra Records, 2014).