The Afternoon Cruise

Jenny Klukken has been bridging the gap between her classical background and her passion for jazz on her primary instrument, the marimba, for years. She's back at it on Thursday night over at Crooners with an all-star band of Chris Olson (g), Chris Bates (b) and non-Chris Dave Schmalenberger (d). Klukken caught up with Sean from Jazz88 to discuss how marimba fits into the world of jazz and how her...

Chris Speed, saxophonist for The Bad Plus, recently connected with Sean McPherson to discuss The Bad Plus's upcoming residency at the Dakota, which starts on December 25 and runs until December 28.

Reid Anderson, co-founder and drummer for The Bad Plus, recently connected with Sean McPherson to discuss The Bad Plus's upcoming residency at the Dakota, which starts on December 25 and runs until December 28.

Joyann Parker is all in for the blues and for weighted blankets. As she travels the road as a celebrated blues musician she has been amassing a fan base across the Midwest and beyond. Check out the conversation to find out Joyann Parker's 2023 album "Roots", her holiday show at KJ's Hideaway and her New Year's Eve shows at Crooners.

Karrin Allyson and Rod Fleeman are never far from the holiday spirit. After sharing many a night on stage in Kansas City Allyson and Fleeman frequently travel together to bring their special brand of holiday cheer further afield. The duo were nice enough to stop by our studios today to serenade us with renditions of "Christmas Bells Are Ringing" and "Some of that Sunshine" plus some conversation.

DeCarlo Jackson is a shining light in the Twin Cities. He is a member of HEYARLO, Hippocampus and is a gifted trumpet player and bassist. After a viewing of the Spike Lee classic Mo' Better Blues, DeCarlo Jackson wanted to combine the thriving jazz scene in the Twin Cities with the thriving comedy scene in the Twin Cities. After connecting with Emma Dalenberg, the duo planted the seeds for RIFFS,...

Toussaint Morrison and Roz Prickel are no strangers to stages of all varieties. But after about a year of contemplation and a handful of weeks of intense work, the duo are ready to stage their debut holiday show. They'll be staging it at Northeast Social on Thursday and Friday December 14 and 15.

Joshua Redman recently released his Blue Note Records debut, "Where Are We". The album is much more lyrics heavy than Redman's previous outings and features Redman's maiden voyage as a lyric writer. The album is built around a collaboration between Redman and vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa as well as a top notch band featuring Aaron Parks, Joe Sanders and Brian Blade. Joshua Redman is scheduled for tw...

We are stuffed to the gills in Minnesota with great jazz artists. We wanted to highlight some of the best songs released in 2023. This list is by no means comprehensive and we encourage you to listen our stream dedicated to Minnesota music, Minnesota Jazz Tracks. And don't miss out on the great local show of the same name on our FM airwaves on Monday nights from 7-9.

We are stuffed to the gills in Minnesota with great jazz artists. We wanted to highlight some of the best songs released in 2023. This list is by no means comprehensive and we encourage you to listen our stream dedicated to Minnesota music, Minnesota Jazz Tracks. And don't miss out on the great local show of the same name on our FM airwaves on Monday nights from 7-9.

José James is a product of South Minneapolis and even though he lives elsewhere he is still strongly connected with the Twin Cities. In fact, James fell in love with jazz as a young teenager thanks to an announcer on Jazz88 outlining the role of Billy Strayhorn in the composition "Take The A Train". In his adulthood James has become an internationally revered jazz artist. He's dropping a new album...

Craig Dion and Jason Craft alongside fellow musicians and vocalists will be gracing the stage of the Capri Theater in Minneapolis this Sunday for a concert celebrating the music of Stevie Wonder. They visited the Afternoon Cruise to discuss the concert, Wonder's vast musical output and the unique unpolished joy that Stevie Wonder brings to his work behind the drum kit.

Ginger Commodore, Judi Vinar and Connie Evingson are all headliners in their own right but they have elected to get together as a triple threat for the first time to usher in the holidays with their Crooner's concert on November 30 "Holiday Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice". The trio connected with Sean McPherson from the Afternoon Cruise to discuss their plans for the concert and their storied ca...

Maurice Jacox is a living legend. He's lived his life on stages around the world and nowadays the Twin Cities is blessed to see him all over town. On November 28 Maurice will be leading his group "We Still R" through a concert at the Dakota. In the conversation with Jazz88's Sean McPherson Jacox discusses how he ended up playing with We Still R, his love of the Cuban people and more.

Drummer, bandleader and writer Brandon Commodore is no stranger to stages all across the world in his work with Stokley, The New Power Generation and more. But for Brandon's own musical development, no stage looms as large as the Dakota. This Monday he and his group NRG will grace the stage and Commodore has a lot to be excited about.

Harold López-Nussa is already out on the road and is ready to visit the Cedar Cultural Center on Wednesday November 15 for his debut performance at that venue. López-Nussa's new release is his first for Blue Note and it's garnering lots of acclaim for good reason; it's a reflection on his experiences, both joyous and melancholy, of leaving Cuba and moving with his family to France. Harold took som...

Nabaté Isles connected with Jazz88 in advance of his show this Sunday at Crooners. The show is titled "Jazz's Influence on Hip-Hop". Isles was quick to point out how his upbringing in NYC in the golden era of hip-hop involved his artistry and his understanding of music in general. Nabaté also shared the information on the distinguished group of players and guests that he'll have with him on Sunday...

The celebrated Twin Cities vocalist Kathleen Johnson is back onstage this weekend at the Capri Theater this weekend for Blue Gardenia. The show features three singers, Johnson, Thomasina Petrus and Patricia Lacy. The trio is navigating the songbooks of Etta James, Billie Holiday and Phyllis Hyman. Kathleen Johnson took the time to visit Jazz88 and discuss her connections to Etta James and her exci...

LA Buckner and his Big HomiE project are preparing for another big show at the Dakota. This week he'll be bringing a special Halloween friendly program to the stage. When he visited Jazz88 he talked about this show and his recent experience playing with Big HomiE on stages that require different levels of restraint in regards to volume.

Dez, Rokkstar Savage and Glo visited the studios of Jazz88 to announce an exciting development for their podcast, 4theKulture. The 4theKulture podcast is presented by the Kulture Klub Collaborative. Glorius L. Martin, aka Glo, has been helping the team produce the podcast. And starting next week, you can hear the 4theKulture podcast on MPS Voices. Listen to hear more about this exciting new collab...

Vic Volare is preparing to throw his Monster Mash Birthday Bash on Halloween night over at the Granada Theater in Uptown Minneapolis. In regards to throwing a night of swinging music, this is not Volare's first rodeo. Vic Volare was at the epicenter of the swing dancing renaissance of the mid-90s here in the Twin Cities and has parlayed that into a career as an in-demand swingin' bandleader. Volar...

Craig Taborn was raised in the Twin Cities but set his sights on the East Coast early in his professional career. After cementing his status as a top-flight straight-ahead jazz player in the 1990s, Taborn has become one of the most inventive and forward thinking musicians in any genre. Although he is well-known for his work on synthesizers, Taborn will be performing a largely solo "bespoke" concer...

During some downtime in Atlanta Fantastic Negrito was doing a little genealogical digging when he started to follow a trail to his seventh generation grandparents. It turns out that in Virginia in the 1750s his grandparents, a White Scottish indentured female servant and an enslaved African man fell in love and started a family. This discovery prompted an outpouring of creativity from Fantastic Ne...

Leslie Vincent visited the studios of Jazz88 to perform a haunting ukulele version of her song "Bury Her Down" and chat up her upcoming performance at Granada Theater on Saturday October 21.

Back in 2017 Jazz88's Bobby Vandell connected with drum legend David Garibaldi for a long interview covering many aspects of Garibaldi's legendary career going back to the earliest years of Tower of Power. Jazz88 will continue to share portions of this interview throughout the coming months. Enjoy this portion of the conversation, focusing on Garibaldi's formative years.