Vocal Highlights of 2015: A Grammy Winner, A Grammy Oversight
With the Grammies done for another year, I have to add my two cents. Each of the nominees in the Jazz Vocal Album category released an exceptional album in...
Where the Boys Aren’t: Swing Sisterhood Big Band at Jazz Central, March 29
Well behaved women seldom make history. — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1976) The long-running Big Band Night at Jazz Central Studios brings at least four area big band ensembles into...
Keeping It in the Family: Billy Peterson With Jason DeLaire in the Dunsmore Room, March 29
One of the pleasures of Patty Peterson’s March 21 tribute to her mother, Jeanne Arland Peterson, was hearing her nephew, Jason Peterson DeLaire, on piano, saxophone and vocals. Multi-instrumental...
Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog Features the Steve Kenny Quartet, March 26
For many years, trumpeter Steve Kenny has led bands boasting as many young lions as elder statesmen. His “Bastids” had a five-year, weekly run at the Artists Quarter,...
It Takes Courage! Brian’s Quartet Tackles Ornette, Jazz at Studio Z on March 26
For four seasons, Jazz at Studio Z presents a monthly (September-June) series of Saturday night concerts and master classes under the leadership of curator Zacc Harris, held in the...
Friday Night Jazz at Reverie– King Fletcher Woods on March 25
Saxophonist Jeff King, bassist Charles Fletcher and drummer Eron Woods (King, Fletcher, Woods) form “one of the most dynamic and crowd-pleasing jazz power trios on the scene today,” said...
2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival July 1-3
Now in its 26th edition, the Iowa City Jazz Festival (July 1-3) boasts a line up of who’s who in modern jazz, featuring internationally renowned artists Vijay Iyer, Poncho...
Cory Healey’s “Beautiful Sunshine”
It was a chilly night in late April 2014 when drummer Cory Healey brought a new band to Studio Z. This was following the most recent “polar vortex winter”...
“Homecoming”: Geoffrey Keezer With Gillian Margot in the Dunsmore Room, March 23
…not only a superb technician and improviser, but also above and beyond this, a composer and conceptualist who can maintain the overall line and the DNA of the...
Jazz Central Presents a Night of Improvised Music With Nathan Hanson, March 23
Wednesday nights at Jazz Central are “new music” nights, featuring musicians playing new and improvised works, often in new configurations. On March 23 (8:30 pm), saxophonist Nathan Hanson leads...
Patty Peterson Presents “The Life and Music of Jeanne Arland Peterson” in the Dunsmore Room, March 21
Head of Minnesota’s “First Family of Music,” indefatigable performer and source of inspiration to generations of musicians, Jeanne Arland Peterson passed away on June 23, 2013. Daughter Patty, herself...
Ellen Lease/Pat Moriarty Quartet Featured at the Black Dog, March 19
Over the years of their life and musical partnership, Ellen Lease and Pat Moriarty have led many ensembles teetering on the edge of modern jazz. Best known perhaps for...
Really Big Shoe, Really Cool Music at Reverie, March 18
Friday Night Jazz at Reverie this week (March 18) features the really big sounds of a two-sax quartet, Really Big Shoe. Launched just six weeks ago at Jazz...
Mancrush Brings “Authentic Midwestern” Vibe to Debut Recording, CD Release at Vieux Carré on March 18
Launched just a few years ago under the leadership of drummer/composer Lars-Erik Larson, Mancrush has become a popular and formidable ensemble on the Twin Cities jazz scene, playing everything...
The Dunsmore Room’s First Orbit, From Caviani to Caviani
One of the most talked about happenings on the Twin Cities Jazz Scene of the past few months has been the opening of the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge...
Adam Meckler Orchestra Returns to Vieux Carre’, March 17
Gathering a band of “some of the Twin Cities’ hippest younger players,” young and hip trumpeter Adam Meckler has been leading one of the region’s most innovative big...
Not Vocal Night! Dark Blue at Jazz Central, March 17
Usually, Thursday nights at Jazz Central are reserved for vocal performances. This week there’s an exception — the young lions of Dark Blue take over the bandstand, playing original...
Vocalist Ernestine Anderson, 1928-2016
From ballads to blues to swing, in small ensemble or fronting a big band, Ernestine Anderson engaged audiences worldwide with her soulful voice for much of her 87 years....
Laura Caviani Trio Returns to the Dunsmore Room, March 15
Making her Dunsmore Room debut last December for the “soft opening” of the new venue within Crooners Lounge, pianist Laura Caviani couldn’t wait to return and again perform with...
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Irvin Mayfield at the Dakota, March 13-14
Two of the most popular performers in jazz today, Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and acclaimed trumpeter and former Artistic Director for Jazz at Minnesota Orchestra Hall, Irvin Mayfield,...