Arturo Sandoval©Andrea Canter

Thirteen will be a lucky number for Dakota patrons in March—thirteen nationally acclaimed touring artists will be on stage from the first to last of the month, with a variety of first-rate local performers in-between. 

National Touring Artists

Reservations highly recommended for ticketed shows. Two sets per night, 7:00 and 9:30 pm unless otherwise noted. Prices vary (see www.dakotacooks.com for prices and online reservations). 

Matt Wilson©Andrea Canter

With a parade of national artists coming into the Artists Quarter this spring, and the ongoing presentation of the best of local jazz, it looks like spring will be early and warm.  The heat wave begins the first week of March with a special night with Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts ensemble,  followed a couple weeks later by another world-class drummer, Eric Kamau Gravatt and Source Code.  

Steamy Weekends (9 pm, covers $10+)

March 5, Jimmy Hamilton Trio. Hamilton has handled keyboards for everyone from Rio Nido to Connie Evingson and Patty Peterson, to Gordy Johnson to Percy Hughes’ Ellington Echoes. Part of the February Jazz Piano Showcase honoring the late Bobby Peterson, Hamilton toured with Ray Charles, directed band at the old Minneapolis Central High School, and recently retired as adjunct professor at Carleton College. A rare club appearance. 

Bryan Nichols©Andrea Canter

We've been hearing a lot from Bryan Nichols lately and there's more to come! The Twin Cities-based pianist/composer has appeared recently at MacPhail's Antonello Hall, the Dakota (Late Night) and Cafe Maude in Minneapolis, and at the Artists Quarter and Clown Lounge in St. Paul in various configurations as sideman and bandleader. Now Nichols has launched a new large ensemble project, We Are Many, to have its first public appearance as part of the Jazz Thursdays series at MacPhail on March 4th.  

We Are Many brings together an all-star cast: In addition to Nichols on piano, the band includes father and son Michael and Greg Lewis on sax and trumpet, respectively, Chris Thomson on saxophones, Stefan Kac on tuba, Jeremy Ylvisaker on guitar, Adam Linz and James Buckley on bass, and JT Bates on drums--unusual instrumentation. Explains Nichols: "I decided to create this group both because I wanted a outlet for some compositional ideas that I had, but also because I really like the idea of having this huge, unwieldy band that's a spectacle in itself anytime it plays. I wasn't really thinking about particular instrumentation, just people I wanted to be in it, and luckily they all said yes. They're all people who are intensely musical and great listeners. Chances are if the band happens again it'll be slightly different personnel, but it's definitely not something that will be able to happen too often, just because of the logistical realities of this kind of project." 

Zacc Harris©Andrea Canter

There can never be enough modern music in the Twin Cities, reason enough for the new Tuesday night series of jazz and improvised music at the Clown Lounge, the little music bar below the Turf Club in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. For a long time, Monday nights at the Clown has served as an outlet for Fat Kid Wednesdays (Mike Lewis, Adam Linz, JT Bates) and other musicians focused on original and experimental music. The past December, the Clown expanded such gigs to Tuesdays. Notes curator/guitarist Zacc Harris, the series "continues to grow, providing another much needed venue for modern instrumental music in the Twin Cities."

Sets typically begin around 10 pm, with two ensembles playing each night. 

Lee Engele (second from left) performs at the Hopkins Center for the Arts with Reuben, Dan and Diane Ristrom on March 13th©Andrea Canter

The Jazz Vocalists of Minnesota are gearing up for a busy March. In addition to members’ individual gigs, there will be two showcases this month, at Hell’s Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis on March 18th (7-10 pm) and at the Sage Wine Bar in Mendota Heights on March 27th (7-9 pm).  More information about JVM is available on the organization’s website at www.jzvmn.org.  

Roxy Cruz

• March 12, 7-10 pm with guitarist Joe Cruz at Ingredients Cafe (White Bear Lake)    
• March 21,  6-8 pm  with guitarist Joe Cruz at Washington Square Bar and Grill (White Bear Lake)   

Marilyn Maye©Andrea Canter

I lost count but I think Marilyn Maye sang about 50 different songs over her two sets last Thursday night at the Dakota. That first set was well over 90 minutes and she took very brief pauses between tunes, just enough time to connect the song to its context and create audience anticipation. Just enough time to continue the thread of engagement with the crowd. Just enough time for a little banter with her beloved band. 

She sang tunes we all know like "Lush Life" but with hidden stories we may have never noticed. She sang songs from some of the most popular songwriters of the 20th century (like Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter) but she included gems that at least some of us were discovering for the first time (like Porter's "Looking at You"). She sang songs we seldom hear in a club setting ("Paradise Cafe") or not often enough ("Something Cool," "Here's to Life") or hardly ever because the lyric is so difficult to deliver ("Take Five," lyrics by Iola Brubeck). She sang her own parody, "Estherville," a sideways tribute to the winter landscape of the northwest Iowa town near one of her favorite venues, Lake Okoboji. She put together a medley of Cole Porter tunes that went to seven, not the usual two or three, choices.