I returned from a long October weekend of jazz in the Big Apple with a greater appreciation for the venues in the Twin Cities. The Blue Note was packed and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band was legendary, but the seating was cramped, the waitstaff indifferent at best, and the audience less than attentive. Jazz Standard was classier, and Fred Hersch and Kenny Barron sublime, but every time the kitchen door opened, they were nearly drowned out by the clatter and chatter. The Village Vanguard was the best listening environment, hands down, and our front row seats afforded both visual and aural perfection as Geoff Keezer and Jim Hall performed. The Vanguard will never win accolades for atmosphere and comfort, and no one cares. It's all about jazz and nothing else. But back home at the Dakota and Artists Quarter, I appreciate our local efforts to create serious listening environments while also providing comfortable seating and earnest service, along with that dose of Minnesota Nice. In downtown St. Paul, the Artists Quarter, like the Vanguard, is a no-frills, basement level setting where jazz is the single attraction; the décor and seating are a few cuts (and decades) above the Vanguard, however; you are always greeted at the door with a smile; and even on a busy weekend, you can maneuver around the room. If St. Paul would just ban smoking, the AQ would surely challenge the best of New York (and its Twin Cities sister, the Dakota) for the most jazz-friendly club in the nation.

December continues the AQ's tradition of top local musicians six nights per week, with a sprinkling of national acts and an occasional Sunday show. Be sure to include the AQ in your holiday plans!

Photos by Don Berryman
"Sometimes you go to a club to play, and you're 19, and your entire audience is between 50 and 90, and it's like 'Wow! This is strange, I'm not playing for any of my peers whatsoever.'"

Young trumpeter Greg Paulus is not yet out of his teens but already is a veteran performer at St. Paul's Artists Quarter. On breaks from the Manhattan School of Music,  as long as he's in school, Twin Citians will likely have a few times each year to catch this monster-in-the-making when he has some down time in his studies, but don't wait. In another year or two, we'll probably have to travel to New York to hear him play.

Photo by Don Berryman
"Sometimes you go to a club to play, and you're 19, and your entire audience is between 50 and 90, and it's like 'Wow! This is strange, I'm not playing for any of my peers whatsoever.'"

Young trumpeter Greg Paulus is barely out of his teens but already is a veteran performer at St. Paul's Artists Quarter. On breaks from the Manhattan School of Music (where he has a full scholarship), Twin Citians will likely have a few times each year to catch this monster-in-the-making when he has some down time in his studies, but don't wait. In another year, we'll probably have to travel to New York to hear him play.

Based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Stearns County Pachanga Society (SCPS) is an ever-evolving, ever-growing organic musical experiment that aims to combine the musical spirit of Cuban Cabildos, Brazilian Samba clubs, and Spanish Charangas with danceable rhythms from all over the globe and a certain psychedelic rock-n-roll ethos. The band was nominated this year for the Minnesota Music Award: Best Latin Band.

This concert will feature guest artist Cuban Jazz pianist Nachito Herrera.

One of the most unique jazz ensembles in the Twin Cities, Soul Café is the imaginative collaboration of three stellar local artists, Laura Caviani (piano), Steve Blons (guitar), and Brad Holden (alto sax). Merging music and poetry, the trio has provided local audiences with some highly enjoyable—and stimulating—evenings, including a “Rogers and Hart Meet Pablo Neruda” set last June at the Dakota (featuring guest vocalist Lucia Newell) and an intriguing mesh of Monk and the beat poets in October at their monthly gig at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church (with Artists Quarter host Davis Wilson).

The theme was “Made in Minnesota” for the JazzMN Big Band’s second concert of the season last Saturday night, and the rafters of the Ted Mann Auditorium must have been vibrating long after the last chorus. A popular staple of the local jazz scene since 1998, this ensemble of the area’s top band performers never disappoints with its fresh takes on standards and original compositions. Under the baton of director Doug Snapp, JazzMN Big Band paid tribute to local connections to the big band canon, from Lester Young and Oscar Pettiford to contemporary composers and arrangers, including Maria Schneider, Pete Whitman, Laura Caviani, Steve Devich, Dean Sorenson, and John Ahern. In addition to the instrumental charts, Saturday night’s performance featured three popular soloists, vocalists Charmin Michelle and Jose James, Jr., and sax legend Percy Hughes.