Jazz88

Jazz88's Peter Solomon spoke with Victor Cole, Director of Recruitment, Retention and Induction in the School of Urban Education at Metro State University, about a Graduate Programs Preview Day coming up April 13th.

The Mississippi Hot Club, the Red Hot Django Peppers and Gypsy Mania, three leading hot club jazz bands are getting together for a concert on April 6. The show is called Hot Club at the Hook, and the Hook is the Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis. One of the event’s curators, Glen Helgeson of Gypsy Mania talked with Phil Nusbaum about the event. Glen first addressed the reason the show is important to...

March 28 is the 88th day of the year and Jazz88 is celebrating the piano! World Piano Day on Jazz88 is supported by Schmitt Music. Sean McPherson headed out to Schmitt Music today to learn a little bit more about the piano and it's staying power in the music world with Dr. Andy Fleser, the keyboard manager at Schmitt.

The trio Trigonal composed of Anthony Cox (Bass, Cello and Percussion), Davu Seru (Drums and Percussion) and Douglas R. Ewart (Winds, Percussion, Poetry and Invented Instruments) are preparing for a show on Saturday March 28 at the Cedar Cultural Center. For this event they will be joined by Sarah M. Greer on vocals. Sean McPherson from Jazz88 recently caught up Seru and Ewart from the group to di...

Jazz88's Peter Solomon spoke with Brazilian guitar virtuoso Diego Figueiredo about his musical development and his recent album "My World," which featured guest appearances by clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Figueiredo is appearing at Crooners on Friday 3/29.

Sue Scott is an actor who has always been touched by women's stories. So she started a series of live performances that are recorded and then posted as podcast episodes that include original music, stories and conversation, called “The Island of Discarded Women.” It is staged every other month at Crooners Supper Club in Fridley. Yemi Love, originally from Nigeria and now residing in Minneapolis pe...

Jazz88's Peter Solomon spoke with pianist Miki Yamanaka on "Shades of Rainbow," her new collaboration with tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. She discusses the influence of pianist Cedar Walton on her playing, the making of the new album, and the status of women in the contemporary Jazz scene.

Katia Cardenas is at the helm for Walker-West's "Women in Jazz Initiative". This Saturday the team is hosting a jazz workshop and jazz jam sessions with players like Mary Louise Knutson, Tasha Baron, BEth Varela and Sophia Kaufmann and more. Cardenas spoke about the importance of creating places to play and learn jazz that are focused around women.

Michael Cain, a gifted pianist, piano instructor and Director of Electronic Music and Recording Arts at MacPhail as well as the co-founder and CEO of Ekwe stopped by Jazz88 to discuss a concert he's throwing at Antonello Hall this Saturday with Yousif Sheronick, Barbara Cohen, JD Steele, Zacc Harris and more.

The celebrated singer-songwriter Valerie June is making her way to the Twin Cities for a performance this Saturday at Hopkins Center for the Arts. Sean McPherson caught up with Valerie June to find out about her performance process, her songwriting philosophy and her recent forays into public speaking.

A.J. Srubas leads a group of great local fiddlers in a tribute to bluegrass fiddler, Kenny Baker. Baker served for many years as the fiddler in the band led by the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. The performance takes place at Celtic Junction, Sunday March 24 at 3PM. In a conversation with Phil Nusbaum, A.J. addressed why he wanted to honor the memory of Kenny Baker.

Jazz88's Peter Solomon caught up with singer Cyrille Aimee ahead of her performance at the Dakota on Tuesday, March 19th. She talked about her childhood in France, her introduction to jazz, her decision to move to New Orleans, the house she designed and built in Costa Rica during the pandemic, and her new album of originals "A Fleur de Peau" which is being released this month.

Singer-Composer Jennifer Grimm and her husband and musical partner, Joe Cruz, visited with Jazz88's Peter Solomon on the Morning Show. Jennifer performed two originals - "Half a Man" and "I Miss Minneapolis/St. Paul" and did a short version of "Our Love Is Here to Stay." She talked about her unusual musical background (she grew up singing in a family variety show act) and about her approach to wri...

Mary Halvorson is widely regarded as the most exciting guitarist of her generation. She continues to cement that reputation with her new Nonesuch release "Cloudward". On this record Halvorson endeavored to not "overwrite", leaving space for the instrumentalists to find their way on their terms. Halvorson discussed her approach, her philosophy and the way that she navigated exploring music as a car...

Tenor saxophonist JD Allen speaks with Jazz88's Peter Solomon about his recent recording THIS, which features Allen playing with Gwilym Jones on drums and electronic soundscapes created by Alex Bonney. Allen will be appearing in the Twin Cities March 15th at Jazz Central and March 16th at Icehouse,

The Twin Cities Flamenco Collective continues at Icehouse in Minneapolis, Sunday March 17. It features its cast of local players as well as a singer from the southwest US. Phil Nusbaum talked with Sachiko La Chayí and Ross Fellrath about flamenco and the collective. For one thing, Ross said, it’s largely improvisational.

Minnesota based guitarist Cody Steinmann has been steadily releasing music with his trio which features Chris Bates on bass, Abbinet Berhanu on the drums. But for his next act Steinmann is bringing in some extra support. East Coast based tenor player JD Allen is coming through town for a number of engagements including a performance and recording session with Steinmann. Steinmann visited Jazz88 to...

The Dregs occupy a singular musical niche: Band members backgrounds are varied, but together, the group sings and plays twisted versions of songs, to the delight of audiences in Minnesota and elsewhere. The Dregs take the stage at the Metronome in Saint Paul, Saint Patrick’s Weekend, Saturday and Sunday March 16 and 17. When Tim and Molly of the Dregs got together with Phil Nusbaum, first they tal...

MPS Voices Executive Producer Manny Hill is joined by the Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools Dr. Lisa Sayles Adams to address the news of the budget gap MPS is facing, the district's plan for National Nutrition Month, and to highlight the MPS Shines winners for the month of March!

Celebrated drummer JT Bates is getting back into the fold as a curator and booker. In addition to taking on more booking responsibilities at Icehouse in general, Bates is curating Mondays at Icehouse for the month of March. Listen to find out what Bates has planned for the long running curated Monday series at Icehouse.

Red Thread’s songs could be considered what happens when you combine traditional songs, new compositions and modern technology. The new CD is called Immigrantke. When Sarah Larsson of Red Thread talked to Phil Nusbaum about the new project, she addressed why all the songs of separation.

Tina Schlieske has been a fixture in the Twin Cities music scene since the 1990s but this is the first time she's had a project so centered in jazz. On her new album "The Good Life" Schlieske performed classic numbers with some of the finest musicians in the Twin Cities jazz scene. Tina stopped in to chat with Sean McPherson about the new album and about the release show at Icehouse.

In the summer of 2020 deVon Russell Gray, Nathan Hanson and Davu Seru recorded the album "We Sick" in a church in Saint Paul that was available due to the COVID pandemic. The tumult of the summer of 2020 showed up in all sorts of ways on the spontaneously composed recordings. Since the 2022 release of the album, enthusiasm for the work of Gray, Hanson and Seru has increased and they are preparing...

According to LA Buckner, he is putting "all his eggs into his own basket". After years of splitting his time as a sideman and as a leader he is focusing on taking LA Buckner and BiG HOMiE up to the next level. To that end, Buckner is making his debut as a leader at Crooners this Friday. Listen to find out what the plan is for the show on Friday.

Peter Solomon spoke with Dayna Martinez, Executive Director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, about the headliners that will be featured at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June.