Chris Thomson ©Andrea Canter

On November 6, one of the Twin Cities’ most innovative horn players gathers a quartet of like-minded artists for a performance at one of the area’s most innovative arts spaces. “Bells and Whistles,” led by Chris Thomson, takes the stage at Antonello Hall at the MacPhail Center for Music in a concert cosponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society, a part of both the MacPhail Jazz Thursdays and TCJS Jazz From J to Z seasons. 

Thomson describes the ensemble as “a modern jazz quartet playing music as influenced by the sounds of new music of any style and genre as it is by the great jazz heritage of the past.  All four musicians have a unique and inspired approach to playing songs as well as improvising.” For this performance, Bells and Whistles features a Midwest collaboration of Thomson on saxes, Bryan Nichols on piano, and Chicago-based musicians Kurt Schweitz on bass and Andre Beasley on drums. 

Lee Engele with Graydon Peterson ©Andrea Canter

The Jazz Vocalists of Minnesota held their second public workshop on October 4th with a small but enthused group of novice and experienced singers enjoying presentations about the legends of the 20s and 30s as well as opportunities to work on performing songs from this era. Particularly useful were the group and individual song presentations with the support of an experienced trio (Phil Aaron, Keith Boyles, Reid Kennedy) and guidance of workshop leaders Arne Fogel, Rhonda Laurie and Vicky Mountain. Stay tuned for details of the next workshop, scheduled for February 7, 2009, focusing on swing and bebop styles. Members will hold their annual business meeting on November 16th. Watch for our December listing and information about a JVM Showcase at the Sage Wine Bar on December 20th! 

Rick Germanson©Andrea Canter

November might bring our first snow, hard frost, and shorter days, but that just means longer nights for hot jazz! Starting the month with a second night of adopted native son Rick Germanson, November also will bring a brief return of former resident Clay Moore, Patty Peterson’s annual birthday party, a new organ trio from Dean Magraw, a reprise tribute to the late great Dewey Redman, the always entertaining Debbie Duncan, a CD release from the Clearwater Hot Club, and more. 

Weekends (9 pm, $10 cover unless otherwise noted)

November 1, Rick Germanson ($15). Rick comes so often that we think of him as one of our local artists. But Pat Martino and Louis Hayes, among others, know otherwise and lay claim to the pianist’s time on a regular basis. With a unique sense of harmony, movement, and drama, Rick’s multi-layered improvisations and shifting rhythms blend the strong two-handed attack of Tatum, Peterson, and Tyner with the lyricism of Evans, along with a complex, dense approach to improvisation that is all his own. Rick’s arrangements of standards and original compositions provide enough melody to follow the line but sufficient abstraction to constantly provoke his fellow musicians to add new layers of harmony and rhythm. Lucky for us, Rick looks forward to his annual AQ gigs almost as much as we do! Tonight he’s joined by Jay Young and Kenny Horst. 

Ahmad Jamal with James Commack

Downtown Minneapolis will have a soulful, bluesy tinge throughout November with a lineup of legends and legends-in-the-making on the music calendar at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant. Veteran swinger Eddie Higgins starts the month, quickly followed by icons Booker T and the MGs and Boz Scaggs, guitar virtuoso Jesse Cook, and CJ Chenier; jazz titans Ahmad Jamal and Ernestine Anderson bring this genre-bending month to an exciting close. In between, catch CD releases from Todd Clouser, Alison Scott, and Charles Lazarus, as well as the usual array of local talent. And A-Train members, note the annual party on November 16th with special guests. 

Zacc Harris©Andrea Canter

Describing themselves as “a rock band playing original jazz,” the Atlantis Quartet has gained a significant following since their debut two years ago. In addition to prime time gigs at the Dakota, Rossi’s, Times, Uptown Bar and Bunkers, the band released an acclaimed recording, Again Too Soon, in 2007.  While their recording and much of their live repertoire is focused on original compositions, it is one of the most lauded compositions of modern jazz that corrals their collective artistry this Friday night at the Dakota. The Atlantis Quartet will give a special performance of John Coltrane's classic album, A Love Supreme, in its entirety, on Halloween, Friday, October 31st as part of the Dakota’s Late Night series, beginning at 11:30 pm. Guitarist Zaac Harris, saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, bassist Chris Bates and drummer Pete Hennig offer the tricks and the treats. A preview can be heard on Thursday, October 30th, at the 318 Café.

Rick Germanson©Andrea Canter

Nearly qualifying as a native son, pianist Rick Germanson brings his unique sense of harmony, movement, and drama back to the Artists Quarter in St. Paul, October 31-November 1. Appearing here nearly annually, his multi-layered improvisations and shifting rhythms blend the strong two-handed attack of Tatum, Peterson, and Tyner with the lyricism of Evans, along with a complex, dense approach to improvisation that is all his own. His octave-spanning chords, often in tandem right and left, cover the keyboard at least as often as his single note runs; his rhythms and dynamics can shift in sudden and sweeping cascades like a windstorm swirling on a sandy dune.  With rich chord structures suggesting how Van Cliburn might approach jazz, Rick’s arrangements of standards and original compositions provide enough melody to follow the line but sufficient abstraction to constantly provoke his fellow musicians to add new layers of harmony and rhythm.

Initially a classical pianist, Milwaukean Rick Germanson attended the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music where he studied with David Hazeltine, assimilating the bop canon of Wynton Kelly, Sonny Clark and Cedar Walton, and the post bop influences of Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner. “What’s interesting,” he says, “is that I was always attracted to the more modernist school of playing…I heard Wynton Marsalis’ Black Codes and was turned on by Kenny Kirkland’s solos. I wanted to play like that…”