Jazz Police, Author at Twin Cities Jazz Festival

The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Live Jazz, April 7-13

April 7, 2017 •

© Andrea Canter As the weather turns very spring-like, it seems we are also adding steam to our sound waves. Maria Schneider returns to conduct the JazzMN Orchestra; pianist Larry Fuller makes his debut in a leading role with his trio in the Dunsmore Room; there’s a new installment of the Reich Fest at the […]

Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog: Corner Jazz and the Steve Kenny Quartet, April 8

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© Andrea Canter For the past 140 weeks (or so), Steve Kenny has presented two sets of jazz on the Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog series, usually starting the evening with a new configuration, a new project or a youth jazz ensemble, followed by a veteran, well-established band in the headliner slot. But […]

Maria Schneider Returns to Lead the JazzMN Orchestra on April 8

April 5, 2017 •

© Andrea Canter “Maria Schneider is a national treasure.” — National Public Radio “Like Wayne Shorter, she somehow expresses compassion through tones.” –The New York Times From her days as a precocious child musician in a small town on the prairie to her current status as a critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning jazz icon in New […]

Freddy Cole Returns to the Dakota, April 4

April 1, 2017 •

© Andrea Canter “Freddy has an impeccable sense of swing…he is, overall, the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive.” —The New York Times I’m Not My Brother, I’m Me was the fitting title of a popular Freddy Cole recording, reissued in 2004. Twelve years younger than legendary […]

Greg Ward Quintet at the Icehouse, Monday April 3

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© Jon Morgan Since his last appearance in the Twin Cities as part of drummer Mike Reed’s People Places and Things quintet, saxophonist Greg Ward has been restlessly engrossed in exploring a variety of musical projects. He also moved back to Chicago after having relocated to New York City for half a dozen years. Ward’s […]

The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Live Jazz, March 31- April 6

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© Andrea Canter Finally it seems we’re into spring mode, just in time for April and some outstanding options in jazz for the coming week, from local stars the Atlantis Quartet to visiting upstart Greg Ward to such seasoned internationally renowned performers as Freddy Cole and Stacy Kent. Add in a three-show debut of Arne […]