© Andrea Canter For the past two years, trumpeter Steve Kenny has curated a weekly series of top-flight area jazz ensembles at the Black Dog in St. Paul’s Lowertown, bringing to the stage not only the most acclaimed regional bands but home-grown international stars like Dave King and Anthony Cox. This weekend, the jazz stars […]
© Andrea Canter In New Orleans we’ve used piano as a percussive instrument, as a groove keeper, as an instrument that carries the melody…it’s important to keep that alive, to keep the grand piano on the stage. — Davell Crawford Hailed as one of a few musicians keeping the piano tradition of New Orleans alive, […]
© Andrea Canter A frequent performer throughout the Twin Cities on such stages as the Dakota, Vieux Carré, Crooners and Jazz Central, vocalist/songwriter/flautist Jana Nyberg recently brought her quintet to Wild Sound Studio for an LP recording session. On Friday, February 3, the Jana Nyberg 5 will return to Vieux Carré with, in part, a […]
© Andrea Canter For the past 15 years, Red Planet has brightened the local jazz galaxy with inventive and entertaining performances from three of the area’s most creative musicians. The collaboration of Dean Magraw, Chris Bates and Jay Epstein was described by the Artists Quarter as “creative jazz for the 21st Century, inviting you to […]
Original Article by Dan Emerson | Special to the Pioneer Press Trumpeter and keyboardist Nicholas Payton, who headlined the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival on Sunday at the St. Paul Hotel, likes to perform in a variety of contexts. He’s led big bands, recorded two-trumpeter duets, collaborated with much older musicians playing jazz standards, and […]