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| Stanley Jordan returns to the Dakota on July 18th |
© Andrea Canter
Had your
fill of jazz festivals yet? For me, it was two glorious weekends in a row, at
the Twin Cities Jazz Festival at Mears
Park and then the Iowa
City Jazz Festival over the holiday weekend. Yet a new, low-key festival is on
the schedule this Saturday when the St. Croix Winery in Stillwater hosts an afternoon and evening
filled with wine and song. Spoken word and poetry mesh with jazz for the July
installment of PipJazz Sundays; the Tuesday Night Band reunites on a Saturday;
the Haining-Agster Explosion celebrates its first anniversary; and guitar
wizard Stanley Jordan
is back in town for a solo gig. Call it the never-ending jazz festival!
Big Gigs This Week
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| Todd Clouser and Bryan Nichols |
Friday, July 12. Since it opened in, literally, an
old icehouse, the Icehouse has managed to appeal to jazzers, hipsters and
foodies. JT Bates re-creates the Clown Lounge with his Jazz Impolsion every
Monday, but there’s another series of more mainstream but equally serious music
over the dinner hours on weekends. Tonight, frequent visitor (and former
resident) Todd Clouser, guitarist and
leader of A Love Electric, pairs up with inventive pianist Bryan Nichols. Clouser has been on a fast rise of late, pumping out
a series of recordings with A Love Electric that cover everything from fusion
to garage jam to retro rock—and all original compositions. He’s even adding his
voice to his strings. He’s been in and out of the Cities this summer in varying
configuration. This one promises to be sublime and a bit eccentric. In a good
way. (Clouser is back at the Icehouse the next night as well, this time in an
all-string duo with creative bassist James
Buckley.)
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| Atlantis Quartet at the TC Jazz Fest |
Saturday, July 13. The first (annual?) Wine and Jazz Fest at the St. Croix
Winery in Stillwater boasts a very appealing
line-up of area artists—world music from Mike Salovich and Mark Anderson; a
swinging collaboration of Patty Peterson and Tanner Taylor; Doug Little’s tropical steamrollers, Seven
Steps to Havana;
and the savvy inventions of the Atlantis Quartet. The fest starts at 11 am and
runs til 6 pm. It’s free admission, and of course there will be plenty of wine!
After an
afternoon in the hot July sun, you can cool off at the Artists Quarter with a
too-rare reunion of the Tuesday Night
Band—Downtown Bill Brown, Billy Franze and Kenny Horst reprising their
long-running gig. Brown is a monster on the B-3, which does not get enough of a
workout these days at the AQ since the TNB went into quasi retirement.
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| Pippi Ardennia and Billy Peterson |
Sunday, July 14. Every month (March – December), PipJazz Sundays offers some of the most
talented area artists in concert with what has to be the strongest “house band”
in town—Peter Schimke, Billy Peterson, Glenn Swanson, Dean Magraw, Marcus Wise,
with stellar vocalist and host, Pippi Ardennia. Usually featuring a local jazz
musician, the July concert presents a special night of poetry and spoken word
melded to jazz, with guest Louis
Alemayehu and his special guest, poet Marie
Chanté. Also on stage will be PipJazz student guest (and student artist in
residence) Joshua Jones, a 2013
graduate of Southwest
High School and promising
tenor saxophonist. PipJazz Sundays takes place in the Weyerhaueser Auditorium
of Landmark Center.
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| Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson |
Monday, July 15. The Old Log Theater continues its
Sounds of Summer concert series with Moon
River and Mercer, featuring the very swinging Southside Aces and two other “aces”—vocalist Maud Hixson and pianist Rick
Carlson. This will be a delightful evening of Johnny Mercer favorites. And
it’s a Foodie Night at the Dakota, with the popular Charmin and Shapira (and Friends) appearing about monthly these
days, swinging through songbook standards, some bossa and always a few
surprises.
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| Explosion Big Band |
Tuesday, July 16. For the past year, Jazz Central
has hosted big bands every Tuesday night, a seemingly impossible feat given the
small performance space. Yet there’s still room for 20-30 patrons in the main
studio, even with a 15-20 piece big band. And if you have never enjoyed a big
band in such an intimate room, tonight is a great opportunity. It’s the first
anniversary gig for the Haining/Agster
Explosion, a 17-piece band of local talents headed by sax master Doug and
trombone titan Scott. “The Explosion is full of the
best players in town, and we have a great library full of Basie, Ellington,
Thad Jones, some things you may have heard, and a lot of stuff you may not have
heard. We have a couple of sets programmed with the most swinging charts in the
book” says Doug Haining. And you won’t
need ear plugs, this is largely an acoustic event.
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| Brandon Wozniak |
Over
in St. Paul at
the Artists Quarter, it’s an explosion of a different sort when saxophonist
nonpareil Brandon Wozniak leads a
trio with Billy Peterson and Kenny Horst. Brandon
can conjure Coltrane, Coleman, Potter and Lovano, but ultimately his horn is
truly his own.
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| Ted Olsen Trio |
Wednesday,
July 17. It’s very gratifying to see former teen prodigies on local stages
as the “young lions” of the pro ranks. Two thirds of the Ted Olsen Trio fit that description. Leader/bassist Ted Olsen was
on the Artists Quarter stage just a few years ago via the Young Artist
Showcase; now he’s back in town after studies at Luther College,
finding more and more sideman jobs and heading his own ensemble. One of his
long-time gigging partners, Quentin Tschofen, will heat up the piano bench,
home on vacation from studies at the New
School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
in Manhattan.
Filling out the trio will be relative veteran and much lauded drummer Pete
Hennig (Atlantis Quartet, Fantastic Merlins).
Come down to the AQ early and catch the latest edition of Steve Kenny and the Bastids, now
boasting a teen prodigy of their own, pianist Will Kjeer.
Thursday,
July 18. Any gig with Stanley Jordan
is worth attending, and when he plays solo guitar, it’s a must-hear, must-see. Jordan returns
to the Dakota tonight for one night of magical music, often suggesting far more
than ten fingers and two hands. His “fingertapping” technique, original
compositions, and elegant arrangements (from standards to Mozart) are truly one
of a kind.
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| Kristin Sponcia at the TC Jazz Fest |
At the Artists Quarter,
it’s one of the last opportunities to hear pianist/vocalist Kristen Sponcia and her band before
Kristen heads off to the University of Miami Frost School of Music to pursue a
doctoral degree. The McNally Smith instructor made a fine showing at the Twin
Cities Jazz Festival two weeks ago. Local and legendary vocal coach/pianist
Phil Mattson is a big fan, noting “Kristin is one of the most musical
‘musician/singers’, in my experience. Her every performance is fresh, few
clichés, spontaneous and real jazz, i.e. she doesn’t repeat herself if possible.”
More Jazz Every Night
Be sure to
check live jazz calendars on Jazz Police
and KBEM sites. Also find a growing
number of events on the Jazz Near
You site, a service of All About
Jazz. A few more gigs of note:
Friday, July 12. Irv Wiliams and Peter Schimke,
Happy Hour, followed by Nachito Herrera at the Dakota; Maurice Jacox at the
Artists Quarter; Jon Pemberton at the Red Stag
Saturday, July 13. Yohannes Tona Band at the Black
Dog; Benny Weinbeck Trio at Parma; Pavel Jany Trio with Chris Lomheim at Hotel
Ivy; Todd Clouser and James Buckley, dinner set at the Icehouse
Sunday, July 14. Jerry O’Hagan Orchestra with
Charmin Michelle at Cinema Ballroom;
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| Andrew Foreman |
Monday, July 15. Headspace at the Artists Quarter;
Charmin Michelle and Denny Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Andrew Foreman/Andrew
Bergman at the Black Dog; JT’s Jazz Implosion at the Icehouse; Clarinet Summit
at Jazz Central
Tuesday, July 16. Cory Wong Quartet, early set at the Artists Quarter; Patty and the Buttons at Café Maude (Penn Av)
Wednesday, July 17. Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Elaine Evans, Davu Seru and Scott Fultz at the
Black Dog; Zacc Harris Trio at Café Maude (Penn Av); Pete Whitman at Jazz
Central; Nick Haas at Hell’s Kitchen
Thursday, July 18. Paula Lammers at Jazz Central
Coming Soon!
. July 19,
Maud Hixson at Parma
. July
19-20, Laura Caviani Trio at the Artists Quarter
. July 23,
Badi Assad at the Dakota
. July 23,
Joel Shapira Trio at Hell’s Kitchen
. July 23,
Zack Lozier at Café Maude
. July 24,
Todd Clouser at Café Maude
.July 24,
Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan with Arne Fogel, Patty Peterson and more, Town
Green (Maple Grove)
. July 24,
Graydon Peterson Quartet at Jazz Central
. July 25,
Benefit for Jeremy Walker at the Dakota
. July 25,
Kristin Sponcia and Phil Mattson at Jazz Central
. July
26-27, Babatunde Lea Quartet at the Artists Quarter
. July 27, Dakota Street Fest
(Nicollet Mall)
. July 27,
Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan with Arne Fogel, Patty Peterson and more, Wolf
Park (St Louis Park)
. July
28-29, Kermit Ruffins at the Dakota
. July 29,
Scott Agster at Jazz Central
. July 30,
Adam Meckler Orchestra at the Artists Quarter
. August 3,
Aakash Mittal Quartet, Late Night at the Dakota
. August 4,
Aakash Mittal Quartet at the Icehouse
. August
10, Todd Clouser and A Love Electric with Cyro Baptista at the Icehouse
. August
11, PipJazz Sundays with Barbara LeShoure at Landmark Center
. August
24, Freedom Jazz Festival, Martin
Luther King
Park
. September
14, Selby Ave
Jazz Festival (Milton and Selby Av)
. September
28-29, Prism (Dave Holland, Craig Taborn, Kevin Eubanks, Eric Harland) at the
Dakota
. November
1, Erik Friedlander and Mitch Epstein at the Walker Art Center
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| Laura Caviani brings her quartet back to the Artists Quarter, July 19-20 |
