The calendar says Spring so it must be true. And I know summer is coming because Steve Heckler has announced the Twin Cities Jazz Fest headliners with McCoy Tyner, Terence Blanchard, Anat Cohen and Bobby Lyle. But there's another jazz fest coming this Saturday with three great area bands and another visiting ensemble (Drobka-Weller Duo). The rest of the week is filled with sonic excitement from former Minnesotan Stefan Kac's tuba to the contemporary jazz genius of David Sanborn to the inventions of George Cartwright and his Smashing Carp cohorts.
Big Gigs This Week
Friday, March 24. It's a rare Friday night double-header at the Black Dog, starting out with a quartet of young lions and mature tigers— Brandon Wozniak, Patrick Adkins, Graydon Peterson and Luke Peterson play originals by the young upstarts, Patrick and Luke, both still engaged in college studies. They're followed by Cedric Fuller and Global Sound, led by drummer Fuller and featuring Ernest Bisong on violin, Steven Hobert on keys, Tomas Simpson on guitar, Kenneth Garnier on bass and Caitlynn Daniels on vocals.
At Jazz Central, two bands with ties to River Falls are on stage, first the young guns of the Mitch Rand Quartet, followed by Common Space, led by drummer Alex Burgess, with Eric Graham on keys, Dylan Nelson on bass and Justin Wolff on saxophones.
Piano magician Rick Carlson plays Ellington with the Southside Aces at Vieux Carre'; Sophia Shorai is on stage at Hell's Kitchen; Jake Hanson and James Buckley offer string theories over the dinner hours at the Icehouse; and at the Cedar, it's a collaboration between the edgy urban sounds of the ensemble Kneebody and remix artist Daedelus to yield Kneedelus-- that's bound to be a wild evening.
Friday-Saturday, March 24-25. At the Chanhassan Dinner Theater, pianist/vocalist Andrew Walesch and his big band reprise their Frank Sinatra blowout.
Saturday, March 25. For some jazzy music in the afternoon, can't go wrong with vocalist Dorothy Doring at the Eagan Community Center. It's a cabaret show of Roaring 20’s songs in the Oasis Room, and for a good cause— a Scholarship Fundraiser for Alpha Delta Kappa, teaching sorority.
Jazz meets jazz in Lowertown St Paul! The annual Jazz at Studio Z Festival brings together four monster ensembles, three of whom are also on the roster of curator Zacc Harris' Shifting Paradigm Records label. Start at 5 pm with Tall Tales, Dean Granros' double guitar quartet with Zacc Harris, Chris Bates and Jay Epstein. Next up, the Adam Meckler Quintetfeaturing Meckler on trumpet, Shilad Sen on sax, Zacc Harris on guitar, Graydon Peterson on bass and Greg Schutte on drums. No doubt they will reprise some of the music from their debut recording, Wander, as well as new material.
The second half of the fest line-up gets pretty percussive: JT Bates and Dave King come together as Raging Bulls, locking “horns" figuratively as they turn drumsets into weapons of mass deconstruction. That should set the stage for the final set featuring the Drobka-Weller Duo, Devin Drobka (drums) from Milwaukee and Chris Weller (trumpet) from Chicago. Their duo release Blues Town comes out on Shifting Paradigms in April.
It's the 134th straight week of Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog, kicking off with the veteran guitar duo of Joel Shapira and Dean Granros, followed by a fluid band of young masters led by Rodney Ruckus, who is celebrating the finale of his 25th birthday tour which took him to the West Coast. His band will include Adam Meckler on trumpet and New York-based saxophonist Jonathan Greenstein, among others.
More for Saturday- Tim Sparks and James Buckley offer string jazz at the Icehouse; the Benny Weinbeck Trio presides at Parma 8200;
Sunday, March 26. Judi Vinar joins Dan Chouinard for the Birthday Club in the Dunsmore Room, and my Lead Sheet guest from last week, vocalist Katia Cardenas, celebrates her birthday at the Icehouse. Her band expands to include not only a tight rhythm section (Ted Godbout, Graydon Peterson and Zach Schmidt) but also 2 savvy back-up singers, Andrina Brogden and Sheridan Zuther. Evening gigs include the Zacc Harris Trio at Riverview Wine Bar and Parisota Hot Club at the Aster Cafe'.
Monday, March 27. At the Icehouse, JT's Jazz Implosion brings back former Minnesotan, tuba master Stefan Kac and his LA-based trio Evil Genius—tuba, guitar and drums. Kac was one of the area's younger proponents of new music when he was frequent performer at the Icehouse, and no doubt his time in LA has percolated some new sounds on that big horn. Also Monday, Mark Ashe heads a B-3 organ trio at Jazz Central.
Monday-Tuesday, March 27-28. One of the most popular contemporary jazz artists, David Sanborn, starts a two-night stand at The Dakota. He's often associated with the “smooth jazz" scene but really has some impressive mainstream chops which will likely be on full display here.
Tuesday, March 28. Get funky with the BZ3 Organ Trio at Crooners, featuring Brian Ziemniak on B3, along with Troy Norton on guitar and Kevin Washington on drums.
Perhaps the most inventive gig of the week, George Cartwright's Smashing Carp Volume 2 is on stage at the Black Dog, with Cartwright, Michelle Kinney, Heather Barringer, Andrew Broder and Noah Ophoven-Baldwin performing “Still Drips."
More: Hot vocalists Madeleine Peyrox and Ricki Lee Jones share the stage at the Ames Center (Burnsville); the Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra is featured at Jazz Central; Chris Lomheim brings solo piano to Vieux Carre'.
Wednesday, March 29. Winona native, New York-based vocalist Vanessa Trouble returns to the Dunsmore Room, in the company of old friend, trumpeter Charlie Caranicus.
Steven Hobert holds a solo piano night at Jazz Central, honoring the traditions of oppressed peoples and featuring the music of Mingus, Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, and Steven's originals.
At Vieux Carre', it's another night with Jeremy Walker's Songtet, with the pianist's long standing trio-mates Jeff Brueske on bass and Tim Zhorne on drums, and vocalist Jason Harms.
Thursday, March 30. ThursdayNight Jazz at Reverie features the band Colossus- Park Evans on guitar, Chris Bates on bass, Joey VanPhillips on drums, and spotlighting saxophonist Clay Pufahl. Joel Shapira plays an early set at Hell's Kitchen, with Six Families “on stage" later in the evening at Khyber Pass.
Big Gigs This Week
Friday, March 24. It's a rare Friday night double-header at the Black Dog, starting out with a quartet of young lions and mature tigers— Brandon Wozniak, Patrick Adkins, Graydon Peterson and Luke Peterson play originals by the young upstarts, Patrick and Luke, both still engaged in college studies. They're followed by Cedric Fuller and Global Sound, led by drummer Fuller and featuring Ernest Bisong on violin, Steven Hobert on keys, Tomas Simpson on guitar, Kenneth Garnier on bass and Caitlynn Daniels on vocals.
At Jazz Central, two bands with ties to River Falls are on stage, first the young guns of the Mitch Rand Quartet, followed by Common Space, led by drummer Alex Burgess, with Eric Graham on keys, Dylan Nelson on bass and Justin Wolff on saxophones.
Piano magician Rick Carlson plays Ellington with the Southside Aces at Vieux Carre'; Sophia Shorai is on stage at Hell's Kitchen; Jake Hanson and James Buckley offer string theories over the dinner hours at the Icehouse; and at the Cedar, it's a collaboration between the edgy urban sounds of the ensemble Kneebody and remix artist Daedelus to yield Kneedelus-- that's bound to be a wild evening.
Friday-Saturday, March 24-25. At the Chanhassan Dinner Theater, pianist/vocalist Andrew Walesch and his big band reprise their Frank Sinatra blowout.
Saturday, March 25. For some jazzy music in the afternoon, can't go wrong with vocalist Dorothy Doring at the Eagan Community Center. It's a cabaret show of Roaring 20’s songs in the Oasis Room, and for a good cause— a Scholarship Fundraiser for Alpha Delta Kappa, teaching sorority.
Jazz meets jazz in Lowertown St Paul! The annual Jazz at Studio Z Festival brings together four monster ensembles, three of whom are also on the roster of curator Zacc Harris' Shifting Paradigm Records label. Start at 5 pm with Tall Tales, Dean Granros' double guitar quartet with Zacc Harris, Chris Bates and Jay Epstein. Next up, the Adam Meckler Quintetfeaturing Meckler on trumpet, Shilad Sen on sax, Zacc Harris on guitar, Graydon Peterson on bass and Greg Schutte on drums. No doubt they will reprise some of the music from their debut recording, Wander, as well as new material.
The second half of the fest line-up gets pretty percussive: JT Bates and Dave King come together as Raging Bulls, locking “horns" figuratively as they turn drumsets into weapons of mass deconstruction. That should set the stage for the final set featuring the Drobka-Weller Duo, Devin Drobka (drums) from Milwaukee and Chris Weller (trumpet) from Chicago. Their duo release Blues Town comes out on Shifting Paradigms in April.
It's the 134th straight week of Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog, kicking off with the veteran guitar duo of Joel Shapira and Dean Granros, followed by a fluid band of young masters led by Rodney Ruckus, who is celebrating the finale of his 25th birthday tour which took him to the West Coast. His band will include Adam Meckler on trumpet and New York-based saxophonist Jonathan Greenstein, among others.
More for Saturday- Tim Sparks and James Buckley offer string jazz at the Icehouse; the Benny Weinbeck Trio presides at Parma 8200;
Sunday, March 26. Judi Vinar joins Dan Chouinard for the Birthday Club in the Dunsmore Room, and my Lead Sheet guest from last week, vocalist Katia Cardenas, celebrates her birthday at the Icehouse. Her band expands to include not only a tight rhythm section (Ted Godbout, Graydon Peterson and Zach Schmidt) but also 2 savvy back-up singers, Andrina Brogden and Sheridan Zuther. Evening gigs include the Zacc Harris Trio at Riverview Wine Bar and Parisota Hot Club at the Aster Cafe'.
Monday, March 27. At the Icehouse, JT's Jazz Implosion brings back former Minnesotan, tuba master Stefan Kac and his LA-based trio Evil Genius—tuba, guitar and drums. Kac was one of the area's younger proponents of new music when he was frequent performer at the Icehouse, and no doubt his time in LA has percolated some new sounds on that big horn. Also Monday, Mark Ashe heads a B-3 organ trio at Jazz Central.
Monday-Tuesday, March 27-28. One of the most popular contemporary jazz artists, David Sanborn, starts a two-night stand at The Dakota. He's often associated with the “smooth jazz" scene but really has some impressive mainstream chops which will likely be on full display here.
Tuesday, March 28. Get funky with the BZ3 Organ Trio at Crooners, featuring Brian Ziemniak on B3, along with Troy Norton on guitar and Kevin Washington on drums.
Perhaps the most inventive gig of the week, George Cartwright's Smashing Carp Volume 2 is on stage at the Black Dog, with Cartwright, Michelle Kinney, Heather Barringer, Andrew Broder and Noah Ophoven-Baldwin performing “Still Drips."
More: Hot vocalists Madeleine Peyrox and Ricki Lee Jones share the stage at the Ames Center (Burnsville); the Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra is featured at Jazz Central; Chris Lomheim brings solo piano to Vieux Carre'.
Wednesday, March 29. Winona native, New York-based vocalist Vanessa Trouble returns to the Dunsmore Room, in the company of old friend, trumpeter Charlie Caranicus.
Steven Hobert holds a solo piano night at Jazz Central, honoring the traditions of oppressed peoples and featuring the music of Mingus, Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, and Steven's originals.
At Vieux Carre', it's another night with Jeremy Walker's Songtet, with the pianist's long standing trio-mates Jeff Brueske on bass and Tim Zhorne on drums, and vocalist Jason Harms.
Thursday, March 30. ThursdayNight Jazz at Reverie features the band Colossus- Park Evans on guitar, Chris Bates on bass, Joey VanPhillips on drums, and spotlighting saxophonist Clay Pufahl. Joel Shapira plays an early set at Hell's Kitchen, with Six Families “on stage" later in the evening at Khyber Pass.
