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| Regina Carter, at the Dakota on May 3 |
© Andrea Canter
There's
always talk of the sorry state of jazz, but in this state, that stands in sharp
contrast to the number of gigs, the number of visiting artists coming our way.
As an audience, we may be spoiled in the Twin Cities, as few other areas in the
country can boast of so many options. Some nights, the conflicting schedules
can be frustrating -- we can't do it all!
Big Gigs This Week
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| Jeremy Walker |
Friday, April 28. What a busy start to the weekend! The
final concert of the Jazz in the Target Atrium season brings Jeremy Walker's Atrium Jazz Ensemble to
the little space at Orchestra Hall, this time as a double sax quintet with
Chris Thomson and Brandon Wozniak on horns, Walker on piano, Jeffrey Bailey on bass,
and Kevin Washington on drums. They're looking at the roots of jazz and
particularly Ellington to Coltrane.
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| Marcus Wise and Dean Magraw |
At Jazz
Central, it's the return of one of the most exciting local pairings in
improvised music - guitar master Dean
Magraw and tabla hero Marcus Wise.
They have not played together much in
the past few years, leaving us only the music from their 2010 album, When the Light Gets In. Hopefully this
gig will encourage more frequent collaborations.
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| Dave Singley |
Another
guitar master, Dave Singley holds a CD
release gig at Studio Z--his first album in 20 years titled Good Hope. The Peter Schimke Trio with Chris Bates and Kenny Horst offers music at
the newly revived Lexington.
Zacc Harris and James Buckley provide
dinner hour sets at the Icehouse; Arne
Fogel croons at Hell's Kitchen; Lila
Ammons is back at the Hennepin Steam Room; the Kronick Quintet makes music in the lounge at Public Kitchen; the Southside Aces swing at Vieux Carre';
and classical Indian music meets experimental improvisation when percussionist Zakir Hussein joins santoor player Rahul Sharma at the Pantages Theater.
Friday-Saturday, April
28-29. The Shaun Johnson Big Band experience is on
stage for two nights at Chanhassan Dinner Theater.
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| Bottomless Pit |
Saturday, April 29. The veterans of Bottomless Pit perform in the headline
slot for Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog--that's Joel Shapira on guitar,
Pete Whitman on sax, Tom Lewis on bass, and Eric Gravatt on drums, with an
opening set from the Brian Handleland
Quartet.
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| Bill Charlap |
At the
Dakota, the always sublime Bill Charlap
Trio is back, with elegant pianist Charlap and longtime cohorts Peter
Washington and Kenny Washington. Charlap is one of the most commanding pianists
of his generation, and one of the finest interpreters of standards from swing
to bebop to postbop.
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| Paula Lammers |
Also on tap
for Saturday, Patty Peterson takes
over Crooners Lounge; Tim Sparks
joins James Buckley at the Icehouse; vocalist Paula Lammers with pianist John Koziol entertain at Mendoberri's; the
Benny Weinbeck Trio is in the lounge
at Parma 8200.
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| Joel Shapira |
Sunday, April 30. It's
officially International Jazz Day and the last day of the St Paul Art Crawl.
Come down to Lowertown on Sunday afternoon and stop by the AZ Gallery in the Northern
Warehouse to hear Joel Shapira on solo
guitar while enjoying a lot of great local art.
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| Bruce Henry |
In the
evening, head out to the Dunsmore Room for your Bruce Henry fix-- he's paying tribute to Stevie Wonder. Bruce left
the Twin Cities for Chicago
about 8 years ago but has never severed ties with the local music community,
returning often to our great pleasure. Whether he is presenting Charlie Parker
or Stevie Wonder or the best of Billie and Ella, Bruce is a force with plenty
of chops.
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| Maud Hixson |
In the Mankato area? Maud Hixson, Maria Jette, and Rick Carlson
perform music from Listening for Your
Song, Maud's 2016 album honoring the music referenced in the Besty-Tacy
stories written by Maud Hart Lovelace. The concert takes place at St John's Episcopal
Church.
And don't
forget the regular Sunday features including Patty and the Buttons, brunch at the Aster Cafe and the Zacc Harris Trio at the Riverview Wine
Bar.
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| Delfeayo Marsalis |
Monday, May 1. The Dunsmore Room hosts trombone
master Delfeayo Marsalis surrounded
by local talents--Rick Carlson, Steve Pikal and Nathan Norman. Marsalis was
most recently in the Twin Cities for a headline set at the 2016 Twin Cities
Jazz Festival.
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| Born to be Kind of Blue |
The Dakota
presents more local talents as Larry
McDonough reprises his "Born to Be Kind of Blue" show, saluting
trumpet legends Miles Davis and Chet Baker with Steve Kenny handling the trumpet
duties. The rest of the band includes Richard Terrill on saxes, Greg Stinson on
bass and Doug White on drums.
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| Jake Baldwin |
More
trumpet at the Icehouse as JT's Jazz
Implosion presents three trumpet heavy sets (a trio of trumpet trios), featuring the Jake Baldwin Trio, Hairsplitters
(led by Noah Ophoven Baldwin), and Adam Zahler's Double Trio.
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| Will Kjeer (KTB) |
And without
trumpet -- in the spotlight at Jazz Central, a new band of sorts-- it's the
rhythm section of Group 47, Will Kjeer (piano), Adam Tucker (bass), and Alex
Burgess (drums) as KTB.
At the Ted
Mann Concert Hall, the U of M Jazz
Ensembles I and II present their salute to big bands.
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| Davu Seru |
Tuesday, May 2. It's first Tuesday with Dean Magraw and Davu Seru at the Black
Dog. Anything can happen. Also in St Paul, pianist Steven Hobert and multi-reedman John
Croarkin are on stage for the early show at Vieux Carre'.
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| Michael O'Brien |
In the
Dunsmore Room, another opportunity to hear former Minnesotan bassist Michael O'Brien and his Triage Trio with
Chris Lomheim and Jay Epstein; and for First Tuesday, big band night at Jazz
Central brings in the Bill Simenson
Orchestra.
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| Regina Carter |
Wednesday, May 3. Violinist Regina Carter returns to the Dakota with
a new recording celebrating Ella Fitzgerald's centennial, Accentuate the Positive; her band includes bassist Chris Lightcap
and drummer Alvester Garnett. At the Minneapolis Woman's Club, Connie Evingson holds her monthly cocktail hour gig with Mary Louise Knutson and Dave Karr. (Open to the public.)
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| Randy Brecker |
Wednesday-Thursday,
May 3-4. Trumpet
king Randy Brecker holds a two-night
stand in the Dunsmore Room, featuring another former Minnesotan, Tanner Taylor on piano along with Gordy
Johnson and Phil Hey. A new "Brecker Brothers" ensemble?
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| Brian Nichols |
Thursday, May 4. The Bryan
Nichols Trio headlines at Vieux Carre,' with pianist Bryan in fine company
with Jeff Bailey and brother JT Bates, following some cool solo guitar from Joel Shapira in the opening set. Over at Jazz Central, vocal night features Melody Mendis.
Officially Rodney Ruckus has left the Twin Cities
for the Bay Area, but he's back for a night leading his hip-hop project at
Reverie.
More Jazz
See the Live jazz calendar posted on the KBEM website, and see more about jazz
events at jazzpolice.com. --online and on facebook. Tune into the live edition
of The Lead Sheet on KBEM 88.5 fm every Thursday at 4:40 pm, rebroadcast on
Fridays at 8:20 am. Tune into the Lead Sheet on May 4 when Andrea's guests are
the Potash Twins, trombone-wielding
brothers with an upcoming gig at Adath Jeshuran Synagogue.
Coming Soon!
. May 5, Fuzzy Math at Jazz Central
. May 6, Travis
Anderson Trio, Jazz @ St Barneys (St Barnabas Lutheran Church)
. May 6, Maud Hixson and Phil Aaron Trio, Swing Dance at 301 on Main
. May 6, Maud Hixson and Phil Aaron Trio, Swing Dance at 301 on Main
. May 6,
D'Sievers/Source Code at the Black Dog
. May 7,
Minnesota Jazz Legends: Celebrating the Elders with Patty Peterson at Minnesota History
Center
. May 7, Charanga
Tropical at the Icehouse
. May 7, Dakota
Combo Spring Concert at Studio Z
. May 7, Dan Chouinard and Lucia Newell in the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge
. May 7, Dan Chouinard and Lucia Newell in the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge
. May 8, Glenn
Zaleski in the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge
. May 8, Levi
Schwartzberg Quartet/Barnacle at the Icehouse
. May 9, Rio Nido in the Dunsmore
Room at Crooners Lounge (postponed from earlier date)
. May 9, Chris Olson Project at the
Black Dog
. May 10, Zacc Harris Group at
Studio Z
. May 11, Potash Twins at Adath
Jeshuran Synagogue
. May 11 +14, Keiko
Matsui at the Dakota
. May 12, Steve
Coleman's Five Elements, Walker
Art Center
. May 13, Walker
West Jazz Ensemble/Open Story at the Black Dog
. May 15, Karrin
Allyson at the Dakota
. May 16, Billy
Martin at the Icehouse
. May 15, Dave Graf
at Jazz Central
. May 15-16, Dave
King Trio in the Dunsmore Room at Crooners Lounge
. May 16-17, Marcus
Roberts Trio at the Dakota
. May 18, Kristin
Lee Sargent with Ted Nash and Jeremy Walker at Vieux Carre'
. May 18, Vicky Mountain
at Jazz Central
. May 18, Below
Zero/Steve Kenny Quartet at Reverie
. May 19, Phil Hey Quartet at Jazz Central
. May 19, Phil Hey Quartet at Jazz Central
. May 20,
Lease-Moriarty Quartet/Angelica Sanchez Trio at the Black Dog
. May 22, Peter
Kogan Quintet at the Icehouse
. May 23, Maud
Hixson, "Judy Garland: Muse and Musician" in the Dunsmore Room at
Crooners Lounge
. May 25, Pete
Hennig Trio at Reverie
. May 25, Will
Schmid/Charlie Lincoln
Quintet Presents the Music of Low at the Black Dog
. May 25, Dorothy Doring at Jazz Central
. May 25, Dorothy Doring at Jazz Central
. May 26, Will
Schmid/Greg Lewis Ensemble at Jazz Central
. May 27, Selby
Brass Band/Park Evans Quintet at the Black Dog
. May 31, Chris
Potter "Dreamer is the Dream" Quartet at the Dakota
. June 1, Zacc
Harris Group at Reverie
. June 3-8,
Icehouse Fifth Anniversary Party
. June 8, Chris
Bates Good Vibes Trio at Reverie
. June 5, Ottmar Liebert and Luna
Negra at the Dakota
. June 21, Christian Sands at the
Dakota
. June 22-24, Twin Cities Jazz
Festival (McCoy Tyner, Terence Blanchard, Anat Cohen, Bobby Lyle)
. June 23-24, Dorado Schmitt and
Django All Stars at the Dakota
. June 30-July 2, Iowa City Jazz
Festival with Donny McCaslin, Stacy Kent, The Cookers, Laura Caviani, John
Raymond, Dakota Combo and more
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| Levi Schwartzberg-- Quartet at the Icehouse, May 8 |
