News - Page 25 of 98 - Twin Cities Jazz Festival

Bob James and his young drummer are trading info

January 24, 2022 •

By Dan Emerson On their recent tour, 82 year old keyboardist and composer emeritus Bob James and his 20-something drummer, James Adkins, have been swapping vital information. The well-traveled jazz lifer has been helping Adkins navigate the twists and turns of the road; when the trio played the Dakota jazz club for two nights, Orlando, […]

Looking Back at 2021 –The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

January 22, 2022 •

Willie Jones III Charlie Parker Centennial Celebration Band © Kevin R. Mason With the ongoing pandemic, things are still quite uncertain in the world. Yet somehow, despite everything, throughout 2021, in both live virtual and in-person events, jazz still prevailed. It was a good thing too, since music […]

Ethan Iverson’s new trio is not Bad

January 10, 2022 •

By Dan Emerson. Pianist and composer Ethan Iverson will return to the Twin Cities January 13 to perform at Crooner’s in Fridley, about a month before Blue Note Records releases his new album “Every Note Is True.” Best known as a co-founder of the influential trio The Bad Plus, Iverson recorded the all-original album in […]

10 from 2021: Music Emerging

January 4, 2022 •

By Don Berryman A year ago in “20_from 2020 – New Music that Helped” I predicted that in 2021 we would witness an explosion of creativity after all the woodshedding that occurred because of the lockdown. I am glad to report that I was correct. Following are some of the great jazz albums released in […]

Mallinger will linger for a gig in his hometown

December 20, 2021 •

By Dan Emerson Pat Mallinger Home for a visit at Thanksgiving, Chicago-based tenor saxophonist-composer Pat Mallinger was walking in downtown St. Paul when he came across a new club he hadn’t heard of: KJ’s Hideaway. The same day, he got a call from drummer and promoter Kenny Horst inviting him to play a gig in […]

Jay Epstein: The Secrets of the Twin Cities Workingest Jazz Drummer

November 23, 2021 •

By Bill Stieger. The drummer perches behind his red Gretsch with the posture of a finishing school graduate. His sticks are small, and he balances them on his fingertips. An array of hand hammered Turkish cymbals surround him. The man looks like a jazz musician ought: He favors newsboy caps, ties with wild patterns, pastel […]