© Andrea Canter
More great
jazz is squeezed into the weekend, spilling into the coming week. Seems we got
by the state high school tournaments without a blizzard, or even a snow flake.
The warmer weather makes it easier to get out, stay out, and get across town to
keep up with your favorite jazz musicians and some new ones.
Highlights This Week
March 29-April 1: The 45th annual Eau
Claire Jazz Festival continues through Sunday. Weekend concerts feature
extraordinary bassist John Patitucci and dynamic trombonist Andy Martin, high
school honor bands, UWEC alumni bands, and more. In downtown Eau Claire, South Barstow Street is reborn as 52nd Street, Manhattan. One of the premiere jazz events
of the Upper Midwest. Check out the website for specific schedule.
March 30-31: Dubbed “Good
Life” before their Artists Quarter debut a couple months ago, the
quartet of Brandon Wozniak, Peter Schimke, Billy Peterson, and Kenny Horst
reappears for two more nights of mischief. Check out a clip from their last AQ gig.
March 31:
Part of Zacc Harris’ Jazz at Studio Z series, the Doug Little Quartet takes
the stage on Saturday, playing the music of Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca.
Little’s cohorts include pianist Peter Schimke, bassist Graydon Peterson, and
drummer Rey Rivera. An open rehearsal (free) will be held from 4-5 pm, followed
by the 7 pm performance, a format that has been a significant part of the
Studio Z series. Little is one of a few truly multi-lingual jazz musicians in
town, fluent in the musical as well as spoken vocabularies of Spanish, Portuguese,
French and Italian cultures, with studies in Havana,
Rio, and Paris.
A founding member of the Motion Poets, Doug juggles several projects including
Tres Mundos and Seven Steps to Havana.
It’s
another night of Le Jazz Cool All-Stars in the bar loft at Vincent’s. Swinging
beats float above the bar, courtesy of pianist Mary Louise Knutson and cohorts
from the Minnesota Orchestra, featuring the cross-genre virtuoso Charles
Lazarus on trumpet. Cocktails, after-hours menu, and jazz with class—a great
way to cap off your Saturday night in the city.
April 1: JaLaLa might sound like an Arabian resort
or a new fruit candy, but it’s simply an amalgam of the names of the trio’s
songbirds—Janis Siegel, Laural Masse, Lauren Kinhan. With
two founding members of The Manhattan Transfer (Siegel and Masse) and a current
star of New York Voices and Moss (Kinhan), this threesome cover everything from
pop to Bach, from Johnny Mercer to Dave Brubeck to Dolly Parton. And Mercer is the subject of their first
recording, That Old Mercer Magic, and
likely the core of the material they will bring to the Dakota Sunday evening.
April 2: Just a few days following his
burning CD release party at the Dakota, New York-based trumpeter John
Raymond joins Tanner Taylor, Matt Peterson and Mac Santiago at Jazz
Central for a multi-part evening of learning and listening. Raymond leads
Interplay, an interactive workshop aimed at improving skills in ensemble
communication and improvisation. Following a dinner break, the band will hold
an open rehearsal, followed by a more formal performance and, finally, Jazz
Central’s weekly open jam session. Check out the Jazz Central website for
pre-registration for the workshop (or just come!).
April 3: Dubbed Trio Midwest, James
Buckley, Brandon Wozniak and Joey VanPhillips take music at Hell’s Kitchen to a
new level of sophistication. And it’s early enough in the evening to allow you
to head across the river to the Artists Quarter in time to catch one of the
too-infrequent installments of Slide (Dave Graf) Meets Valve (Brad
Bellows), one of the best horn-led ensembles in the area.
April 4-5: Via a collaboration with McNally
Smith and the Walker
Art Center,
avant garde guitarist/experimental music guru Elliott Sharp is in town
with two nights of creative programming. On Wednesday, the one-time cohort of
Jack DeJohnette, Oliver
Lake and Sonny Sharrock
is on stage at the Amsterdam Bar with the McNally
Smith–based improvisational chamber orchestra, Improvestra, as well as
in small ensemble settings with local music luminaries George Cartwright and Michelle
Kinney. Also on the show will be the Cherry Spoon Collective,
a collaboration among some of the most innovative bands in the Metro, drawing
from Heiruspecs, Liminal Phase, Jelloslave, No Bird Sing, Zeitgeist, Saltee,
Merciless Ghost, Lulu’s Playground and more,
with multiple cellos, reeds and percussion. On Thursday, Sharp moves
over to the Walker
for three solo sets.
April 5: Pianist/attorney Larry
McDonough has been keeping a relatively low profile lately but now he’s
launching a new DVD project (Live at
Music Connection) with a celebration at the Dakota. Larry describes it as “performing poetry and odd-metered
jazz based on melodies from children with disabilities--Beethoven, Brubeck,
Bill Evans, Spinal Tap, Led Zeppelin, Brubeck, Medeski Martin & Wood, and
others.” His long-standing quartet includes saxophonist Richard Terrill,
bassist Craig Mataresse, and drummer Chaz Draper. In St Paul, the always inventive Phil
Hey Quartet returns to the Artists Quarter for their mostly monthly mix
of original works and an interesting array of modern jazz covers.
More Jazz All Week
Remember to
consult our user-friendly, updated live jazz calendar
or on the Twin Cities page of Jazz Police.
Some more
suggestions for the week ahead:
·
Friday, March 30: Benny Weinbeck Trio at D’Amico
Kitchen (Le Meridien/Chambers Hotel); Joann Funk and Jeff Brueske at the
Lobby Bar (St Paul Hotel); Firebell at Shanghai Bistro (Hudson,
WI); Merciless
Ghost at the Black Dog; Three Flights Up at Jazz Central
·
Saturday, March 31: Benny Weinbeck Trio at D’Amico Kitchen (Le
Meridien/Chambers Hotel); Joann Funk and Jeff Brueske at the
Lobby Bar (St Paul Hotel); Ticket to Brasil at the Loring Pasta
Bar; Sophia
Shorai at the Lexington; JazZen at the Hatrick Lounge
·
Sunday, April 1: Charmin Michelle and the Jerry
O’Hagan Orchestra at Cinema Ballroom; Zacc Harris Trio at
Riverview Wine Bar
·
Monday, April 2: Charmin Michelle and Denny Malmberg at Fireside Pizza
·
Tuesday, April 3: Cory Wong Quartet (early set) at the Artists Quarter; Dean
Magraw and Davu Seru at the Black Dog; Acme Jazz Company at the
Shorewood; Jazz Fly with Dorothy Doring at The Nicollet; Jack Brass at The
Driftwood
·
Wednesday, April 4: Chris Thomson Quartet at Café Maude; Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Steve Kenny and the Bastids,
followed by Galactic Soul Arkestra at the Artists Quarter; Jazz in the Lounge with Connie Evingson and the Parisota Hot Club at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis.
. Thursday, April 5. Maud Hixson with Rick Carlson and Steve Pikal at the Lexington.
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
·
April
6, Irvin Mayfield Quintet at Orchestra Hall
·
April
6, Bobbi Miller and Rhonda Laurie, “Naughty Songs for Nice Girls” at Bryant
Lake Bowl
·
April
6-7, Eric Kamau Gravatt and Source Code at the Artists Quarter
·
April
10, Cory Wong and Peña (TCJS Jazz From J to Z) at Minneapolis Southwest High School
·
April
10, Gary Smulyan and the McNally Smith X-Tet at the Artists Quarter
·
April
13-14, Bill Carrothers at the Artists Quarter
·
April
14, Legends at the Capri, tribute to Frank
Sinatra with Jason Richards and the Rick Carlson Trio
·
April
14, Francois Rabbath at Antonello Hall, MacPhail Center for Music
·
April
15, PipJazz Sunday with Solomon Parham, Pippi Ardennia at Landmark Center,
Weyerhauser Auditorium
·
April
15, MacPhail Center for Music Combo Festival and Spotlight Concert featuring
Adam Niewood, the Dakota Combo, and MacPhail Jazz Faculty
·
April
19, KBEM’s REEL Jazz, “An Evening with Both DeFlores” (Louis Armstrong) at the Trylon Microcinema
·
April
20-21, Cory Wong, CD Release at the Artists Quarter
·
April
21, JazzMN Orchestra with Terell Stafford at the Hopkins
High School Performing Arts Center
·
April
21, Judi Donaghy, Jazz@ St Barney’s
·
April
22, Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education Fund Raiser Brunch at the Dakota
·
April
22, Grace Kelly at the Dakota
·
April
22, Doug Haining Quintet, Tribute to Cannonball Adderley (TCJS Jazz From J to
Z) at the Artists Quarter
·
April
28, Bruce Henry Tribute to Marvin Gaye at the Hopkins Center for the Arts
·
April
29-30, Steve Tyrell at the Dakota
·
May
4, Tortoise and Twin Cities Jazz All-Stars at the Walker Art Center
·
May
8-9, Poncho Sanchez at the Dakota
·
May
10, Dakota Combo at MacPhail
·
May
11, Evan Christopher with Lee Engele at Hopkins Center
for the Arts
·
May
11-12, Zacc Harris Group CD Release at the Artists Quarter
·
May
12, Evan Christopher at the Hopkins
Center for the Arts
·
May
13, PipJazz Sundays at Landmark
Center
·
May
20-21, Ramsey Lewis Trio at the Dakota
·
May
25-27, Eric Alexander at the Artists Quarter
·
May
26, Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Orchestra Hall
·
June
18-19, Stanley
Clarke and George Duke at the Dakota
·
June
22, A Love Electric/Adam Meckler Orchestra at the Ritz Theater
·
June
28-30, Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Mears
Park (headliners Bad Plus
with Joshua Redman; Delfeayo Marsalis Octet; Francisco Mela’s Cuban Safari)
·
July
1-2, Bill Frisell at the Dakota
·
September
4-5, Pat Metheny & Chris Potter at the Dakota
·
September
26-27, Chick Corea and Gary Burton at the Dakota
·
October
30-31, Maria Schneider Orchestra at the Dakota
Photos (top to bottom): Doug Little; Brandon Wozniak; Charles Lazarus; Brad Bellows; Charmin Michelle (photos by Andrea Canter)