JazzMN is Swinging in the Season at the Dakota
December 20th 7:00pm
With guest vocalists Ginger Commodore, Jearlyn Steele and Andrew Walesch.
JazzMN with Kurt Elling!
October 23 6:00pm in the Belvedere at Crooners
Two-time Grammy winner Kurt Elling has been called “the standout male vocalist of our time” by the New York Times. Elling’s use of scat and vocalese, his original lyrics for such masterpieces as Coltrane’s “Revelation,” and his interpretations of such great instrumental works as Dexter Gordon’s sax solo on “Body and Soul” have put him at the creative apogee of modern jazz artists.
The two-time Grammy winner has received an unprecedented 15 nominations (out of 17 albums to date), won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards, and is a perennial “Jazz Vocalist of the Year” in readers and critics polls (Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazz Journalists Association, etc).
We expect this to be a sellout. So don’t miss the exciting JazzMN Orchestra with the incomparable Kurt Elling.
2022 Twin Cities Jazz Festival
Special guest vocalist Lila Ammons
Mears Park, St. Paul
June 24 4:00 Main Stage
FREE
Also live streamed at https://www.twincitiesjazzfestival.com
Live Streamed from the Belvedere at Crooners! JazzMN Orchestra with Ricky Peterson, Bob Mintzer and more!
This was a big band show like no other. In addition to the world-class JazzMN Orchestra, special guests included Minnesota’s own Ricky Peterson (Prince, David Sanborn) on organ and voice, with Paul Peterson (Wings) bass, Joe Elliot guitar, and Gene Lake drums. Joined by legendary saxophonist, composer, and arranger Bob Mintzer (Yellowjackets), who arranged the music for this program, this concert marks the return of the full 17-piece JazzMN Orchestra to live performance since the start of the pandemic.Featuring charts from the breakout recording “Drop Shot” with Ricky Peterson and the WDR Big Band, this is the first time any of this music was performed in Minnesota and only the second time in the US.
ICONS OF THE JAZZ SEXTET
The JazzMN Sextet, members of the larger JazzMN Orchestra, recreated classic sextet favorites from the ’40s, ’50s, and beyond with songs by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Art Farmer & Benny Golson’s Jazztet, and more.
The JazzMN Sextet includes JC Sanford, trombone and director; Pete Whitman, saxophones; Adam Rossmiller, trumpet; Mary Louise Knutson, piano; Jeff Bailey, bass and Phil Hey, drums.
AARP MN & the Twin Cities Jazz Festival Present Jazz Fest Live Featuring the JazzMN Quintet
The musicians of the JazzMN Quintet are all members of the JazzMN Orchestra. They present a historical view of various artists that employed this instrumentation beginning with its infancy in the swing era, into its standardization in bebop, through its heyday of the hard bop era, and more modern explorations in the 1960s and beyond.
The presentation was moderated by JC Sanford, JazzMN Orchestra’s Artistic Director.
Pete Whitman – saxophones
Adam Rossmiller – trumpet
Mary Louise Knutson – piano
Jeff Bailey – bass
Phil Hey – drum
Watch for more exciting concerts with more guest artists…
including a star-studded holiday concert at the Dakota, December 20th.