The Twin Cities’ Fall Jazz Festival will return to Crooners Supper Club on Sunday, October 20, 2019. This year’s festival will be headlined by vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway and pianist and composer Kenny Werner. Additional artists will perform on the two stages at Crooners (the MainStage and the Dunsmore Jazz Room), which will be programmed until 7:30 p.m.
Ann Hampton Callaway is a multi-talented and prolific artist, showcasing her skills as a singer, composer, pianist, lyricist, arranger, and actress, just to name a few. She has graced stages of jazz clubs, concert halls, and Broadway, and has joined legendary artists like George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stevie Wonder throughout her long career. Her most recent album, Jazz Goes to the Movies, features the Ted Rosenthal Trio and has garnered high praise as it reached #12 on the Billboard Jazz Chart.
Pianist Kenny Werner brings more than his unique and innovative piano skills to this year’s festival. As a performer, composer, and lecturer, he brings years of research and experience from writing his book “Effortless Mastery,” published in 1996, which continues to educate artists today. His work has led him to learning and playing music in Brazil, writing the expansive No Beginning No End as part of his Guggenheim Fellowship, and performing with artists such as Charles Mingus, Joe Lovano, Bobby McFerrin, and Pat Metheny, among others. He has also composed for major ensembles like the BBC Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, and the Cologne Radio Jazz Orchestra of Germany.
A very active Twin Cities’ vocalist, Patty Peterson, from Minnesota’s “First Family of Music” will perform in the intimate Dunsmore Room. Having toured around the country, Patty Peterson has released four solo recordings with her fifth to be released later this year. She will be joined by her group “Patty Peterson and the Jazz Women All-Stars,” a group that celebrates women in jazz and features a number of local powerhouse musicians.
Bob Deflores, a local gem of jazz history, will present and narrate video footage of legends Bessie Smith, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and others to kick off the day’s celebration of jazz. Over the last 60+ years Deflores has located and preserved hundreds of rare jazz films and footage from 1900 to 1950 and he has become a fixture at the jazz festival in sharing these films.
A 2013 inductee into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Dennis Spears is an active jazz vocalist and actor in the Twin Cities. He has toured both nationally and internationally with the vocal jazz ensemble Moore by Four and also serves as the Artistic Director for Legends Music Series at the Capri Theater, which was named Best Venue for Live Jazz in the Twin Cities.
While he is based in New York and Chicago, pianist Jon Weber is a regular and beloved fixture in the Twin Cities. With his encyclopedia-like knowledge of jazz and music history, his playing is both fresh and innovative, yet bounces between styles and sounds of past legends. He will be joined at Crooners by Gordy Johnson.
Hailing from Apple Valley, up-and-coming saxophonist Sophia Kickhofel will join the day’s events after a busy summer of music making. After playing at this summer’s jazz festival, the 16-year old has shown herself to be one of the best young alto saxophone players in the nation, winning one of two spots in the 22-member National Youth Jazz Orchestra and performing an international summer tour with the ensemble.
The festival will start at 12:30 with Bob Deflores’ Classic Jazz Film Presentation on the Main Stage followed by Kenny Werner. After Kenny Werner, Jazz Fest’s good friend Jon Weber with Gordy Johnson join the line-up, followed by Ann Hampton Callaway. Music on the intimate Dunsmore Room Stage begins at 2:00 pm with up and coming saxophonist Sophia Kickhofel, followed by Twin Cities’ beloved vocalists Patty Peterson and Dennis Spears.
Crooners is offering happy hour prices, including Bloody Marys, from 12:30 to 1:30 during the Bob Deflores film.
MAINSTAGE
12:30 to 1:45 Bob Deflores Classic Jazz Film Presentation, including Bessy Smith, Count Basie & Duke Ellington
2:15 to 3:45 Kenny Werner
4:15 to 5:30 Jon Weber with Gordy Johnson
6:00 to 7:15 Ann Hampton Callaway
THE DUNSMORE JAZZ ROOM
2:00 to 3:00 Sophia Kickhofel
3:30 to 4:30 Patty Peterson Jazz Women All-Stars – Mary Louise Knutson, Liz Draper & Sheila Early
5:00 to 6:00 Dennis Spears
General admission ($40) and VIP ($100) tickets which include a great Crooners buffet, can be purchased online.
