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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 31 May 2004 |
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July 2004 combined live Jazz listing for Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul |
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Written by Tom Surowicz
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Saturday, 22 May 2004 |
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A sleek, well-schooled, engaging full-sized jazz ensemble, that's really got a lot going on at the low end of the timbral spectrum. Led by a trombonist, and featuring plenty more trombones and bass trombones, plus a standout baritone sax player, this funky and modern big band can sound like a bunch of happy elephants on parade. Bann and his troops have several great original numbers in the book, plus some inspired and atypical arrangements of old warhorses -- e.g., "My Favorite Things," which comes off nothing like the version from "The Sound of Music," and also sounds nothing like the John Coltrane modal period classic small group rendition. Toss in the accomplished vocal stylings of Steve Faison, who nails the old classic, "Angel Eyes," and it's no wonder these guys have a CD out on Sea Breeze Records -- a top national label servicing big band enthusiasts. Once-a-month favorites at O'Gara's in St. Paul, the Stan Bann Big Band can really wail the blues, or get fashionably funky.
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
 Connie Evingson is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has appeared in clubs and concert halls across the U.S., in Europe and Japan, and has been a guest soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony conducted by Doc Severinsen, and the Vocalessence Music Series with Bobby McFerrin. She is the creator of the original stage production, Fever, A Tribute to Peggy Lee, which she has performed at theatres across the country and excerpted at New York's Town Hall and is co-host of Singers and Standards on KBEM, the Twin Cities' premier jazz radio station. She was featured on the Smithsonian's Jazz Singers radio series, Jazziz Magazine's Vocals on Fire CD, and has released four CDs on Minnehaha Music, I Have Dreamed, Fever - A Tribute to Peggy Lee, Some Cats Know, and The Secret of Christmas. Her latest disc, Let it Be Jazz - Connie Evingson Sings the Beatles, produced by Minnehaha Music for the Summit label, was released September, '03. Also released this fall, Sharper Image's new compilation disc New Sirens of Song features a track from Connie's CD Fever - A Tribute to Peggy Lee, along with tracks by Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Stacy Kent and others. Connie's tribute to jazz elders CD Some Cats Know, released in 2000 with guest artists Al Grey, Ray Brown, Toots Thielemanns, Jack McDuff and Doc Severinsen and her latest release, Let it Be Jazz, both charted in the Top 50 for 8 weeks in the U.S. and Canada.
Evingson has been a member of the vocal jazz ensemble Moore By Four since 1986, with whom she has toured the U.S., Europe and Japan, appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, and opened for Harry Connick, Jr., Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae and Dizzy Gillespie. Her voice is often heard on TV and radio commercials for clients such as Target, Chili's, Mervyn's, Andersen Windows and others. Connie was among the top 15 contestants in the 1998 Thelonius Monk Vocal Competition and received the McKnight Artist Fellowship Award in 2000. |
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Written by Don Berryman
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Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
Although no longer a resident, Pianist Bill Carrothers was born in Minneapolis and frequently plays gigs when he returns to town.
Photograph courtesy of Howard Gitelson |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
Adi Yeshaya - Composer, arranger and pianist Adi Yeshaya has resided in the Twin Cities since 1988. Born in Israel, he graduated Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1985. While still attending school, he had the opportunity to arrange music for the notable Herb Pomeroy Orchestra and the M.I.T. Jazz Orchestra. |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
Jazz pianist and composer, Mary Louise Knutson, is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has performed with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Dianne Reeves, Bobby McFerrin, Richie Cole, Greg Abate, Von Freeman, Billy Hart, and Richard Davis. As a show player, she has performed with such musical acts as Smoky Robinson, the Osmond Brothers, Engelbert Humperdinck, the Four Lads, the Platters, and comedians Phyllis Diller, Jack Carter, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealan, The Amazing Jonathan, Judy Tenuta, and more. And from 1994-1998, Knutson performed and toured internationally as the lead keyboardist for Synergy (formerly Rupert's Orchestra). |
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