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The Adam Meckler Quintet starts a three-night, three-venue run of live recording sessions, August 20-22 |
© Andrea Canter
Another week featuring our
youngest jazzers as well as our elders, sometimes together on the same gig. All
Originals at Studio Z welcomes a native son; two cross-generational ensembles
play one more time before going on hiatus --at least til college winter break;
the Peterson Family celebrates Linda's CD release; another favorite vocalist
returns from maternity "leave," and Adam Meckler starts a
three-night, three-venue live recording project. That's the tip of the Twin
Cities' jazz iceberg.
Big Gigs This Week
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Group 47 |
Friday, August 14. Steve Kenny's
Group 47 has had a surprisingly long run given that three of the five
musicians have been engaged in college (or pre-college) studies since the band formed
at the Artists Quarter in 2013. Gigs are now tied to pianist Will Kjeer's
college schedule, as he starts his first classes at Cal Arts in September,
making tonight's Friday Night Jazz at The Nicollet show the last for a while.
The band plays an all-original repertoire, and each time out the tunes seem to
have been re-examined and given new twists.
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Connie Evingson |
Also inclined to give crowd
favorites new twists and nuances, vocalist Connie
Evingson will be in the lounge at Parma 8200
in Bloomington,
while original compositions and inside-out arrangements are the norm for
bassist Anthony Cox, who brings a
trio into Jazz Central.
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Debbie Duncan |
It's perhaps not the first
venue you think of for modern improvising bands, but the SW Crafthouse (aka
Senor Wong) in St Paul
hosts three young inventors-- Cory
Healey, Chris Bates and Jake Baldwin. On the other hand, Patty Peterson and Friends, seem like a
perfect fit to Crooner's Lounge where they land tonight, as does Debbie Duncan who makes her first
appearance at Vieux Carré. She's likely to be a fixture there as she was at the
Artists Quarter -- it's just a room that screams for Debbie! Plan to arrive
early as the free dinner hour sets feature guitarist Zacc Harris and visiting bassist, Michael Janisch, hot off his quartet gig at Studio Z last night.
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Will Kjeer |
Saturday, August 15. Leaving town in style, Will Kjeer has another
"farewell" gig, this time leading the Will Kjeer Summer Band as the opening act for Saturday Night Jazz
at the Black Dog. His cohorts include fellow college freshman-to-be Charlie
Lincoln on bass (Charlie is off to the Berklee College of Music in a few
weeks), Steve Kenny on Flumpet™, Uncle Kenny Horst on drums, and special
guests.
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Larry McDonough |
It's a tough act to follow but the Larry
McDonough Quartet is up to the task. Pianist (and attorney) Larry always
includes some original tunes (in very original time signatures) as well as
crafty arrangements, and his band featuring Richard Terrill (sax), Greg Stinson
(bass) and Dean White (drums) has developed a musical telepathy.
At Vieux Carré, pianist Chris Lomheim plays (free!) for the
dinner hour sets, and if you peruse the venue calendar, you will see his name
on a number of early evenings. Seems he is the house pianist this month!
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Charmin Michelle |
Over at the Normandy Kitchen
in downtown Minneapolis,
the "Third Saturday" jazz program is expanding, at least in its scope
of musicians. These monthly nights have often presented singer Maurice Jacox;
now they're adding some other area favorites. Tonight, Charmin Michelle brings in a formidable quartet with Laura Caviani,
Jay Young and Eric Gravatt. This band
would rate Birdland or the Blue Note in New York.
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Andrew Walesch |
Sunday, August 16. Crooners Lounge hosts jazz brunch every Sunday, and
this month (and beyond?) that means singer/pianist Andrew Walesch with Gordy Johnson and Jay Epstein, and usually a
guest horn player. Walesch brings his own touch of Sinatra to the band stand,
and has also taken on curatorial duties for a large part of Crooner's daily
schedule. (Watch for news of a Tuesday night instrumental jazz series-- serious
jazz with such guests as Tanner Taylor, Laura Caviani, and-- a special
two-night gig with Bill Carrothers, all coming this fall.)
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Linda Peterson |
The long awaited CD release
from Linda Peterson is finally here
-- with an early evening bash at the Icehouse. Vocalist/pianist Linda has at
least partially relocated to the Twin Cities after living and working in
southern California.
Much of the Peterson family will be on hand to help celebrate this unique
compilation of Linda's international releases (You Gotta Be Somewhere).
Monday, August 17. We've seen drummer Eric Harland in many configurations recently, with Joshua Redman's
quartet, Charles Lloyd's quartet, SF Jazz Collective and just six weeks ago
with Dave Holland, Chris Potter and Lionel Loueke at the Twin Cities Jazz
Festival. But with his new Rude Unkal ensemble, it's "garage jazz"
funk all the way, tonight at the Dakota.
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Jana Nyberg |
Tuesday, August 18. Nice double header at Vieux Carré tonight. Start
out early evening (no cover!) with the always magnificent piano of Chris Lomheim, easing you into Jana
Nyberg's "comeback" kickoff gig following her maternity leave. Now in
the role of Augie's mom as well as talented
singer/songwriter/flautist/educator, Jana brings back the Jana Nyberg Group featuring husband (Augie's dad!) Adam on trumpet
and, often, companion vocals. The rest of the team is back too-- Thomas
Nordlund on guitar, Matt Peterson on bass and Andres Crovetti on drums.
Standards, originals, jazzy pop, always a lot of energy flowing among these
musicians.
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Jack Brass Band |
Wednesday, August 19. So where does a New Orleans style brass band go after
opening for Dr. John in the first-ever concert at the new CHS Field? To the
Icehouse, of course. Tonight, Jack Brass
Band, directed by Mike Olander and featuring a cast of top Twin Cities
brass artists, brings their funky Crescent
City swing to south Minneapolis.
At Jazz Central, hear
back-to-back bands featuring young talents with connections to McNally Smith
College of Music. Saxophonist Lucia
Sarmiento, a former student of Andres Prado in her native Peru, leads an
ensemble of like-minded pals, including, yet again, another opportunity to hear
pianist Will Kjeer. A late set features another young gun, saxophonist Adrian Larkin and his band, The Blue. Both bands include guitarist
Trevor Wiest.
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Katia Cardenas |
Vocalist Katia Cardenas returns to the Dakota
with a young lion line up of Ted Godbout (piano), Andrew Foreman (bass), and Zach
Schmidt (percussion).
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Adam Meckler |
More Jazz!
Keep up with the live jazz
scene in the Twin Cities. The most comprehensive jazz calendar can be found at Jazz
Police, but you will also find jazz listings at KBEM, Rhythm and Grooves and Jazz
Near You. Jazz Police also posts monthly metro jazz highlights. KBEM
and KFAI radio host jazz programs regularly and provide daily notices of jazz
gigs and concerts. The live edition of The Lead Sheet can be heard at 4:40 pm
on Thursdays on KBEM, excertps rebroadcast at 7:40 am on Fridays. Venues and
artists are reminded to send information to online and print calendars (e.g. tc@jazzpolice.com)
Coming Soon!
. August 20-27, Bridge Chamber Music Festival, Northfield (Laura Caviani
and Dave Milne on 8/21; Dave Hagedorn on 8/24)
. August 21, Bob Bowman at Jazz Central
. August 21, Arne Fogel at Parma 8200
. August
21, Adam Meckler Quintet, Live Recording at The Nicollet
. August
22, Zacc Harris American Reverie Trio (debut) followed by Adam Meckler
Quintet, Live Recording at the Black Dog
. August 22, Jeremy Siskind Trio with Nancy Harms at Vieux Carré
. August
26-27, Ben Sidran at the Dakota
. August
28, No Room for Squares at The Nicollet
. August
28, Maud Hixson at Parma
8200
. August
29, Dean Sorenson Sextet, CD Release at the Black Dog
. August
29, Patty Peterson and Friends at the Dakota
. August
30, Tootie Heath Trio with Ethan Iverson and Ben Street at the Dakota
. August
31, Terence Blanchard and E-Collective at the Dakota
. September
1, Tanner Taylor at Crooners Lounge
. September
7-8, Victor Wooten at the Dakota
. September
8, Dave Karr Quartet at Crooners
. September
11, Christian Scott and Stretch Music at the Dakota
. September
13-14, Bill Carrothers Trio at Crooners Lounge
. September
15, Tommy O'Donnell Trio at Crooners Lounge
. September
17, Patricia Barber at the Dakota
. September
22, Chris Lomheim Trio at Crooners Lounge
. September
22-23, Lizz Wright at the Dakota
. September
29, Dave Graf Quartet at Crooners Lounge
. October
4, Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra at the Dakota
. October
8, Jazz in the Target Atrium (Orchestra Hall), with Wessell Anderson
. October
13, Phil Hey Quartet at Crooners
. October
20, Laura Caviani Trio with Bob Bowman and Todd Straight at Crooners
. October
25, Benny Green Trio at the Dakota
. November
16, Regina
Carter's Southern Comfort at the Dakota
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Jeremy Siskind Trio with Nancy Harms, at Vieux Carre' August 22 (photo courtesy of the artists) |