© Andrea Canter
So are you
doing something special to mark Jazz Appreciation Month? Of course there is
something special going on in the jazz community here most any day of the week.
This weekend and following week are no exception. Just try to decide.
Highlights This Week
The weekend
boasts quite an array of jazz – a young guitar whiz hosts a CD release party,
an acclaimed veteran trumpeter guests with the JazzMN Orchestra, a local sax
hero honors the music of Cannonball Adderley, and another young phenom makes
her first Dakota appearance as an adult (but don’t offer her a drink yet!).
April 20-21. Cory Wong has already proven himself to be both skillful and
versatile, a guitarist who seems as comfortable with Afro Peruvian grooves as
with post bop ensembles and more rock-driven fusion. His quartet is a regular
fixture on the Tuesday schedule at the Artists Quarter, holding down the early
evening slot. With Pena, he explores the music of Peru’s African traditions,
particularly centered on the cajon. For his latest release, he has taken two
sides of his musical personality in Quartet
and Quintet variations, making it a
double album and doubly delightful. This weekend’s celebration at the AQ pares
down the personnel from the recording to a core quartet of Wong, Dan Musselman,
Andy Schuster and Zach Schmidt.
April 21. I first heard trumpeter Terell Stafford some years ago at the
Iowa City Jazz Festival, and soon again with Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts and
his own quintet at the Dakota. Since the mid 00s, he’s been back in town a
couple times with each of those bands, including a live recording session at
the Dakota released on MaxJazz. Saturday night, he’s the special guest with the
JazzMN Orchestra for their season finale at the Hopkins High School Performing
Arts Center, and he’s bringing some original charts. As mellow as fine brandy
on flugelhorn and an assertive yet highly melodic player on trumpet, Stafford’s latest recording beautifully covers This Side of Strayhorn.
April 22. Early in the day, you can support
jazz education at the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education fundraiser brunch at
the Dakota Jazz Club and enjoy a cross-generational experience with sax veteran
Dave Karr and the high school ensemble, Dakota Combo. (A few tickets can still
be purchased at the door at 11:30 am.) Come back in the evening when the
benefit’s keynote speaker turns headline performer on the Dakota stage. When
she was about 15, alto saxophonist/vocalist Grace
Kelly blew us away at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, and later in the
evening when she joined legends Frank Morgan and Irv Williams on the club
stage. Now she is all of 19 and a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music
as well as an alum of seven recordings as leader. Some of finest local talents
provide the rhythm section. But this is not the only sax gig in town tonight.
Across the
river at the Artists Quarter, Doug Haining pays homage to the great Cannonball Adderley in the season finale
of TCJ’s Jazz From J to Z concert series. He’s bringing along some great
pals—Tanner Taylor, Keith Boyles and Mac Santiago.
And in
between, for the most mellow evening, the Riverview Wine Bar hosts a guitarist
for all seasons, Dean Magraw, in a
solo performance. I heard Dean go solo a couple months ago at a little library
gig in south Minneapolis,
and it was as magical as it gets, a showcase of Dean’s many musical
personalities, from bop to fusion to global encounters of the best kind.
April 23. You’ve probably heard him on any
given Wednesday night at the Artists Quarter, opening the evening early with
his Bebop Bastids, a core of young lions and frequent guests. Or maybe you just
take for granted that you can “always” hear trumpeter Steve Kenny, cuz he is at the AQ every week. Whatever, Monday night
brings an opportunity to hear one of the area’s trumpet kings in a more
intimate, more free-wheeling session with veteran saxman Jimmy Wallace at Jazz Central. If nothing else, you’ll realize you
need to start more Wednesday evenings at the AQ.
An unusual
pairing of film and music across two venues? Remember a couple years ago when Walker hosted Dave King
for Two Days? It was a two-night whirl-wind “tour” through the music of Dave
King, bringing to town The Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Buffalo Collision, Golden
Valley Is Now and the newly formed Dave
King Trucking Company. It was all captured on film with interviews and
more, to be screened at St Anthony Main tonight (part of the Minneapolis-St
Paul Film Festival) and followed by the DKTC at the Aster Café across the
street. No cover if you bring your movie stub.
April 24. When the 15-year run of the Tuesday
Night Band ended at the Artists Quarter in January, we figured Tuesday nights
would just never be the same. For one night, we can relive the funky joy of B-3
Organ Night, with B-3 master “Downtown” Bill Brown, guitarist and chief
jokester Billy Franze, and AQ owner/drummer Kenny Horst. Another popular (and
ongoing) feature of Tuesday nights, Westside Tacos, makes it a complete
reunion. (Save room for cake! At $5 cover, $2/taco and $1/cake chunk, this is
the world’s cheapest night on the town… and one of the best.)
April 25. Patty Peterson sings everywhere and often, but it’s not easy to find her fronting a
small rhythm section. As one of a flock of Petersons and many talented friends,
Patty mostly appears with a hip group of horns and keyboards. So consider this
a rare opportunity when Patty joins brother Billy on bass and pal Phil Aaron on
keys at Café Maude.
April 26. Take two musicians who individually
belong in intimate surroundings, and fly them to the moon for an evening.
That’s the gist of “The Moon Belongs to
Everyone,” a night at the Como Park Planetarium with other-worldly music from Maud Hixson and Dean Magraw. This
“journey in space and song” will feature popular songs associated in some way
with the moon. And there will be plenty of “moonglow” as Maud and Dean turn the
planetarium into a very special cabaret.
More Jazz Every Night
Not just
during Jazz Appreciation Month, you can hear the best of this music everyday.
Check listings for your favorite musicians and venues on the Twin Cities Live
Jazz Calendar at Bebopified
or Jazz Police. And tune in to KBEM
(88.5) and KFAI (90.3) for interviews with this week’s performers (and of
course, great radio). Some more recommendations for the week:
·
Friday, April 20:
Joann Funk and Jeff Brueske at the Lobby Bar (St Paul Hotel); Benny
Weinbeck Trio at D’Amico Kitchen; Zacc Harris Group at Hell’s Kitchen; Rob
Henry Trio at Shanghai Bistro (Stillwater); JazZen at Riverview Wine Bar; LP release for Selenographia (Nathan Hansen, Brian Roessler, Paul Metzger) at the Black Dog.
·
Saturday, April 21: Charmin & Shapira at Midtown
Global Market (12:30 pm); Joann Funk and Jeff Brueske at the Lobby Bar (St Paul
Hotel); Benny Weinbeck Trio at D’Amico Kitchen; Zach Lozier Super Band at
Harriet Brewing (Sol Bock Revival); Judi Donaghy at Jazz@ St Barney’s; Lee
Engele and Reynold Philipsek at Pardon My French; Joel Shapira Trio at Loring
Pasta Bar; Cabaret Night at Jazz Central
·
Sunday, April 22: Patty and the Buttons at the Aster
Café; Zacc Harris Trio at Riverview Wine Bar; Charmin Michelle and Jerry
O’Hagan Orchestra at Cinema Ballroom; Milo Fine Assemblage at Homewood Studios;
JT Bates at Barbette
·
Monday, April 23: Headspace at the Artists Quarter;
Charmin Michelle and Denny Malmberg at Fireside Pizza
·
Tuesday, April 24: Cory Wong Quartet, early show at
the Artists Quarter; John Penny and Rey Rivera at The Nicollet; Arne Fogel at
Hell’s Kitchen; Patrick Harrison and Kip Jones at Café Maude; Jack Brass at the
Driftwood Charbar
·
Wednesday, April 25: Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Steve Kenny & the Bebop Bastids followed by the
Galactic Soul Arkestra at the Artists Quarter; Jim Anton/Tommy Barbarella/Eric
Gravatt at the Nomad World Pub
·
Thursday, April 26: Pete Whitman’s X-Tet at the
Artists Quarter; Arne Fogel at The Lexington
Coming Soon
·
April
27-28, Dave Karr & Brian Grivna at the Artists Quarter
. April 27-28, Parisota Hot Club at the Black Dog
. April 27-28, Parisota Hot Club at the Black Dog
·
April
28, Bruce Henry “Tribute to Marvin Gaye” at the Hopkins Center for the Arts
·
April
29, Soul Café at Hennepin Avenue Methodist
Church, Art Gallery
·
April
29-30, Steve Tyrell at the Dakota
·
May
4, Tortoise and Twin Cities Jazz All-Stars at the Walker Art Center
·
May
4-5, Magraw/Nichols/Peterson/Horst at the Artists Quarter
·
May
8-9, Poncho Sanchez at the Dakota
·
May
10, Dakota Combo at MacPhail (Antonello Hall)
·
May
11, Evan Christopher, free public workshop at MacPhail (4 pm)
·
May
11-12, Zacc Harris Group CD Release at the Artists Quarter
·
May
12, Evan Christopher with Lee Engele & Trad All-Stars at the Hopkins Center for the Arts
·
May
13, Jeanne and Patty Peterson, Mothers’ Day Brunch at the Dakota
·
May
13, Debbie Duncan with PipJazz Sundays at Landmark Center
·
May
13, Nancy Harms
at the Dakota
·
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
3, Sophie Millman at the Dakota
·
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; Francisco Mela’s Cuban Safari)
·
July
1-2, Bill Frisell at the Dakota
·
September
4-5, Pat Metheny Unity Band 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): Terell Stafford; Cory Wong and Andy Schuster; Dean Magraw; the Tuesday Night Band; Maud Hixson (all photos by Andrea Canter)