General Archives - Page 12 of 90 - Twin Cities Jazz Festival

Four hands, one music

October 19, 2022 •

By Dan Emerson One of Cuban-born piano virtuoso Ignacio “Nachito” Herrera’s stated ambitions is to combine his wide-ranging musical influences into one music. With the help of violin virtuoso Karen Briggs, a kindred spirit, Herrera continued his pursuit of that all-in-one ideal, October 16th at the Dakota jazz club in Minneapolis. The perfectly matched duet […]

Ramsey Lewis: 1935-2022

September 12, 2022 •

Ramsey Lewis (at The Dakota, 2013) Three-time Grammy winning pianist and NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis died in his sleep at home in Chicago on September 12. He was 87. His most recent Twin Cities appearance was at the Dakota with his quintet in 2017. Ramsey Lewis at The Dakota with Henry Johnson and Joshua […]

Washington’s expansive sound reverberates at Dakota

August 31, 2022 •

By Dan emerson “Please welcome the AMAZING Kamasi Washington.” The sold-out audience waiting for Washington’s late show at the Dakota on August 26 reacted with appropriate enthusiasm for the jazz world’s most buzzed-about new star. Since releasing his genre-spanning debut release “The Epic” in 2015, Washington has been on a meteoric rise, sometimes hailed as […]

Joey DeFrancesco: 1971-2022

August 26, 2022 •

Joey D at Crooners, 2018 “I’ve always been stretching the boundaries of the instrument since day one,” he told Philadelphia Weekly in 2019. “I have my influences, but nobody’s played the organ the way I play it.” Considered one of the prominent forces in the renaissance of organ jazz since his teens in the 1980s, […]

Basie time machine lands in Fridley, then takes off

July 26, 2022 •

By Dan Emerson William “Count” Basie’s world-changing sound originated in a raucous Petri dish that will never be replicated – 1930s Kansas City – to become a band that will never be duplicated. The phrase “less is more” has long since become a cliché, but it could have been coined to describe the way Basie […]

One Last Look Back – The 2021 TD James Moody Jazz Festival

July 24, 2022 •

Musicians celebrate George Wein © Kevin R. Mason The 2022 summer jazz season is upon us! But before it is over, here’s one more (long overdue!) last look back at one of the best major jazz events from 2021, The TD James Moody Jazz Festival. From November 5 to 21, […]