The Afternoon Cruise

Oogie_Push is from the Meskwaki Nation and is currently creating on Dakota territory, aka the Twin Cities. She’s an actor, writer, storyteller, dancer, a Meskwaki twine bag weaver, a production assistant and an award-winning documentarian. She is the playwright and lead performer for the Full Circle Production “The Adventures of a Traveling Meskwaki”. The show opens this evening (Friday November 8...

Broadcaster and Grammy-nominated performer Judy Carmichael is coming back to the Twin Cities for a performance at the O'Shaugnessy in Saint Paul on Saturday, November 16. She's no stranger to listeners of Jazz88 as we carry her show "Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired" on Monday nights at 10pm. She connected with Sean McPherson from Jazz88 to discuss her development as a piano player and how vital he...

Bassist Erik Fratzke from Happy Apple was nice enough to stop by the Jazz88 studio to discuss the group's new studio album New York CD. It's the group's first release in 17 years and Fratzke talked about the life cycle of the band and the beautiful rapport and camaraderie the group is enjoying as they hit the 25 year mark. Happy Apple is celebrating the vinyl release of New York CD this weekend wi...

On the week of the release of MaLLy and Last Word's new album "The Sweetest of It All" MaLLy took some time to connect with Jazz88 to discuss his love of jazz. MaLLy's artform is hip-hop but his sources for inspiration run way deeper. He discussed how jazz can invite him to listen deeply, to relax and to celebrate Black culture in general. Listen in as MaLLy discusses some of his personal favorite...

Jesse Simon from the MN Hard Bop Collective grew up loving organ jazz out in Denver, Colorado so when it came to for the MN Hard Bop Collective to add more events to their sit-in series it was no surprise that Simon decided to concentrate on the organ. The series will draw inspiration from the legendary organist Shirley Scott. The MN Hard Bop Collective is launching a new weekly Sit-In Series even...

Vocalist Dane Stauffer visited the Afternoon Cruise to discuss his upcoming Monstrous Melodies Cabaret at the Dakota. Though Dane said he wasn't sure if any of the performance was legitimately "scary" he assured us it was lots of fun. He even brought along a rehearsal recording which sounded like a lot of fun. The Monstrous Melodies Cabaret event happens on Halloween night at the Dakota.

Bassist Liz Draper has been running a residency at Berlin for October and she's wrapping it up on Sunday, October 27 with her friend Ava Mendoza. Mendoza is a celebrated guitarist and composer based in Brooklyn and her friendship with Draper goes back almost 25 years. Liz spoke about her approach to improvising on the bass, her recent experience with playing through-composed music. Mendoza spoke a...

Mike Lewis, the celebrated multi-instrumentalist known for his work with Happy Apple, Fat Kid Wednesdays and Alpha Consumer, connected with Jazz88 to discuss the run of shows he'll be doing in November at Icehouse. Lewis highlighted some of the artists he'll be collaborating with like Anthony Cox, S. Carey and Jeremy Yvilsaker. He also discussed his approach to choosing his musical opportunities w...

Mere days away from releasing their sophomore album "NORFSIDE" drummer L.A. Buckner and his bandmates from BiG HOMiE are ready to celebrate an album that's been years in the making. Buckner, alongside David Smith and percussionist Jamani Buckner, spoke about the songwriting process, the importance of releasing the album at an iconic venue (the Capri Theater) in an iconic part of Minneapolis (the N...

Celebrated Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg is making her way to the Twin Cities for a show at Crooners on Thursday, October 17. Eeg was nice enough to hop on the phone with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise to talk about her upcoming performance at Crooners and about how she approaches singing with different size groups!

Obi Original is an accomplished musician/composer and vocalist. Obi agreed to come by to discuss one of his musical heroes, Fela Kuti. Fela was born October 15, 1938 and he, alongside his drummer Tony Allen, is recognized as one of the architects of the Afrobeat genre. Listen in to hear Obi Original's reflections on Fela's influence and importance.

The internationally acclaimed vocalist Samarth Nagarkar is bringing his Khayal Ensemble to MacPhail for a performance on Saturday October 12. In advance of the concert Mr. Nagarkar and Michael Cain, the Director of Electronic Music Recording Arts at MacPhail connected with Jazz88 via ZOOM to discuss the concert, the improvisational traditions of North Hindustani music and the connections to jazz a...

Joel Shapira is always out there playing. He's out playing in town four or five times a week. But behind the scenes Shapira is always working on his own material. Joel came through the Jazz88 studios to discuss his new record "Sleepless Montage" and the release party coming up on Thursday, October 3 at Berlin in Minneapolis.

Violinist Ernest Bisong from Walker-West visited Jazz88 to talk about the new season of the Rondo Community Music Series. The series launches this Saturday (9/28) and rolls through to May with concerts from Kavyesh Kaviraj, Kevin Washington and RA Spirit, Katia Cardenas, Trio Zenia and more. Bisong shared his philosophy for recruiting the right artists, keeping the series accessible and involving...

Drummer and bandleader L.A. Buckner lovingly describes fellow drummer/bandleader Brandon Commodore as the "big homie". These two great drummers and bandleaders have years of history and the love will come through loud and clear on Saturday at Crooners when they share a bill. In their visit with Jazz88 Commodore pointed out that not only is it great to see two drummer/bandleaders sharing a bill but...

Voz En Punto, the wildly talented acapella group out of Mexico City visited Jazz88 on Monday September 16. It was a beautiful coincidence that the group was visiting on Mexican Independence Day. Voz En Punto is visiting the Twin Cities in partnership with VocalEssence. The group talked about their thirty plus year history and performed two songs: Tilingolingo and La Negra.

Trombonist Dave Graf has been a fixture in the Twin Cities jazz scene for decades but he spends most of his time behind the scenes. That changes on Sunday when he steps out on the Crooners Main Stage leading a band that includes Jennifer Grimm (voice), Phil Hey (drums), Doug Haining (sax), Mary Louise Knutson (piano) and Matt Peterson (bass). Graf took the time to connect with Jazz88 to discuss hi...

Vocalist extraordinaire Samara Joy is coming to the Ordway on Saturday September 14. During a break in her schedule Samara Joy connected with Sean McPherson to discuss her technique for picking songs, her quick rise to become one of the biggest names in the world of jazz and her love of ensemble singing.

Celebrated vocalist Ashley DuBose took some time out of her day to chat about her songs, her love of jazz and her upcoming performance at the Selby Ave JazzFest on Saturday, September 14 in Saint Paul.

There are no names bigger in jazz than Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. And for aspiring trumpet players it is essential learning to understand the careers and influences of these two icons. For Solomon Parham and Omar Abdulkarim the invitation to pay tribute to these icons at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis gave them the opportunity to revisit two of the heroes they grew up studying. The d...

The Marcin Wasilewski piano trio has been going for thirty years and their chemistry shines on and off stage. Tonight they're preparing for two shows at Berlin in the North Loop of Minneapolis. Sean McPherson connected with Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz to find out about their staying power, the Polish jazz scene and their love of Prince.

Like so many jazz performers, Davina discovered jazz music early on in her life through her father and has loved and studied the music ever since. Davina connected with Sean via phone in advance of her upcoming show at the Dakota to discuss some of her favorite songs including Fats Waller's rendition of "I'm Going To Write Myself a Letter".

Author and journalist Andrea Swensson visited the Afternoon Cruise alongside Youa Vang, the Vice-President of the Ramsey County Historical Society. Swensson will be doing a reading and signing of her new book "Deeper Blues: The Life, Songs and Salvation of Cornbread Harris" on September 12 at Springboard for The Arts for Ramsey County Historical Society's History Revealed Series. The book's subjec...

A call from a storage unit manager lead George Benson down the path to releasing one of the most majestic and compelling albums of his entire career. Listen to George Benson in conversation with Sean McPherson as he reflects on the recording sessions that led up to this new release Dreams Do Come True.

Moore by Four is getting ready for a show this Friday over at Crooners. Members Ginger and Ashley Commodore stopped by to talk about the group's thirty plus year history and what gives them their staying power.