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| Delfeayo Marsalis, Denny Malmberg, Charmin Michelle and Mark Gross at Fireside |
© Andrea Canter
Two nights each week (Mondays and Wednesdays), a
neighborhood pizza joint just across the Minneapolis boundary in Richfield, MN
presents one of the finest duos in regional jazz, Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg, billed as “Hot and Crusty.” (That’s Charmin “hot,” Denny “crusty?”)
Fireside Pizza has hosted small jazz groups for many years, going back to the
late Bobby Peterson. Soon-to-be-legendary young vocalist José James got his
start gigging with his South High teacher—Denny Malmberg-- at Fireside; Charmin
and Denny have been the regulars for a number of years now. Denny played mostly
keyboards but now has pretty much settled on accordion – it fits a tighter
space! Sometimes the band expands, adding bass and perhaps a horn, but that
little corner of the room barely fits two. There’s a following from the
neighborhood and a few loyal fans who drive in from far reaches of the metro
area for a chance to have some of the best thin-crust pizza in town while
enjoying the intimacy of the music. Pepperoni and Ellington?
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| Denny and Charmin at Fireside |
Like many casual venues, you never know who might drop by
and sit in. But last night we had a last-minute hint – Delfeayo Marsalis and
his quintet were coming into town for a benefit event (at the Dakota Jazz Club)
the following night. And one of the loyal Firesiders, who just happened to know
Delfeayo, was planning to bring him over – sort of a chance to decompress the
flight from New Orleans to frigid Minnesota. We figured maybe he would sit-in on a tune or
two.
Denny and Charmin were barely done with their opening song
when Marsalis, with saxophonist Mark Gross, arrived. If they were tired from
their flight, it didn’t matter. Coats came off, instruments assembled, and it
was a quartet for the rest of the night. They rolled through the songbook,
unfettered by expectations of club owners and a ticketed audience. Waitstaff
jockeyed around the band delivering pizzas and beers; probably half the diners
figured this was just another night with Denny and Charmin and a couple
friends; a few caught on quickly and out came the I-phones.
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| Everyone cut loose at Fireside! |
It wasn’t just another night, not for Fireside Pizza; not
for a large handful of hard core jazz fans; not for Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg; and apparently not for Delfeayo Marsalis and Mark Gross. For all the
times I have seen his band over the past ten years, I’ve never seen Delfeayo
this loose, this exuberant… and I have never heard him more songful than on
his second set opening solo, “What a Wonderful World.”
What a wonderful night. And the pizza was indeed “hot and
crusty.”
The Delfeayo Marsalis
Quintet entertains at the A Better Chance Foundation benefit at the Dakota
tonight (February 19); see www.dakotacooks.com.
You can enjoy Hot and Crusty with Charmin Michelle and Denny Malmberg every Monday
and Wednesday night, 7-9 pm, no cover, at Fireside Pizza, 6736 Penn Avenue
South in Richfield.
