“Regina Carter creates music that is wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent, and, at times, breathtakingly daring…taking the listener into the future of jazz. “ –Time Magazine 

Regina Carter

The Northrop Jazz Series continues its stellar season on March 15th with jazz violinist Regina Carter’s Reverse Thread Project. This quartet performance will feature the music of Carter’s new release (Reverse Thread), music of the African Diaspora. Already known for her unique interpretations that fuse modern jazz and world music, Carter now weaves together traditional instruments such as the kora from Mali (featuring special guest Yocouba Sissoko) and powerful drum rhythms from Senegal with her violin, accordion (Wil Houlshouser), bass (Chris Lightcap), and drumset (Alvester Garnett).

Reuben Ristrom, Lee Engele, Dan Ristrom, Diane Ristrom©Andrea Canter

Four of the Twin Cities’ finest purveyors of swinging jazz unite for “Jazz American Style” at the Hopkins Center for the Arts on March 13th.  The show will feature one of the area’s most musical families, Reuben, Diane and Dan Ristrom, along with popular songbird Lee Engele. They’ll have able backing from saxman Dale Mendenhall, pianist Jimmy Hamilton, bassist Steve Pikal, and drummer Nathan Norman. In addition to adding to the vocals, Reuben Ristrom will add his virtuosic skills on guitar and banjo. 

Lee Engele, current President of the Twin Cities Jazz Society, has been gaining more and more acclaim as a talented and hard-working vocalist in the region. Her recent gigs have included such venues as The Dakota, Honey, Hell’s Kitchen, Sage Wine Bar and Club Saratoga in Duluth.  A participant in the 2008 edition of the Yale Cabaret Conference, Lee appeared at the Bloomington Center for the Arts in December 2009 with Debbie Duncan and Bruce Henry in a salute to the 60th anniversary of Birdland. 

Wynton Marsalis©Andrea Canter

One of the world’s premiere jazz orchestras will be in the Twin Cities for a performance at Orchestra Hall on Sunday, March 14th, followed by a day of clinics at two Twin Cities high schools. The 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, directed by trumpeter and jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, will present selections from Portrait in Seven Shades, a suite by saxophonist Ted Nash, as well as repertoire from such luminaries as Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams and others.

"He's just committed to forming bands, working out the music with the same people, building a sound, a repertoire, an audience, and the return on those investments is remarkable. To me, he's almost single-handedly responsible for energizing the Twin Cities music scene." –Reid Anderson (Bad Plus), St Paul Pioneer Press (2003) 

Dave King©Andrea Canter

Drummer Dave King might be best known for his long-standing work with The Bad Plus and Happy Apple, but his affiliations hardly end there. In fact, at any given moment, King is likely involved in at least ten projects ranging from the jazz oriented Bad Plus, Happy Apple and Buffalo Collision to rock bands like Halloween Alaska and impossible-to-define electronic outfits like Gang Font. And with a two-night celebration of King’s music this weekend at the Walker Art Center (March 12-13), dubbed “Dave King for Two Days,” the participating ensembles will only represent part of King’s current resume. But it’s a meaty, eclectic sampling of all things King, including two new projects that bring some old friends together.

Dakota Combo at Ramsey Junior High©Andrea Canter

A critical survival skill for many jazz instrumentalists is the ability to accompany a vocalist. Vocalists are often in greater demand, particularly among smaller venues, bars and restaurants; larger groups and big bands often back a vocalist. Yet this is not a skill that many young musicians learn prior to college or even beyond. And it works both ways—young vocalists typically hone their craft with the backing of a pianist, guitarist or trio, seldom with the more complex interaction of a larger horn ensemble or big band. 

Two programs of the MacPhail Center for Music will provide such a learning opportunity in real time on March 10th at Honey, the basement-level club that opened in the old Jitters space in northeast Minneapolis. The music brings together three advanced voice students of MacPhail instructor Vicky Mountain and the talented high school ensemble, The Dakota Combo, led by MacPhail’s Jazz Coordinator, Adam Linz. In partnership with the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, the Dakota Combo includes seven musicians, age 15-18, selected through auditions last fall. At Honey, the Combo will support the vocalists in the first set, and then play an instrumental set.  

Stefan Kac leads the Symphonic Transients Orchestra. Photo © John Whiting

Then came the group Ingo Bethke in 2008, Kac’s trio with Adam Linz and Pete Hennig in 2008, his quartet with Sean Roderick, Josh Granowski, and Nick Zielinski, the group Bronco Vision with Brandon Wozniak, Anthony Cox, and Jay Epstein, and journeys into free jazz/improvised music with Milo Fine at Homewood Studios.

And there are the projects I haven’t yet heard, like the Copper Street Brass Quintet. Earlier this week I was talking with Dick Parker, a member of the Mouldy Figs, and he asked, “Do you know Stefan Kac”? Apparently Kac also plays with this trad jazz band and others.