Roy Haynes courtesy of Dryfus REcords

A dozen (yeah, 12!) national acts come to the Dakota Jazz Club in June, most likely a club record. And that’s counting Andres Prado as a local act, which he no longer is. While the Twin Cities Jazz Festival brings eclectic jazz offerings to Mears Park in St. Paul (June 20-21) and Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis (June 27-29), you can experience an eclectic mix of jazz, blues and world music at the Dakota seven nights per week. And only a block from Peavey Plaza, it is always easy to combine the festival with a late set at the Dakota. Be sure to reserve your national act tickets. And it’s always a good idea to make club reservations for local shows, too. 

National Touring Artists (7 and 9:30 pm unless otherwise noted)

June 1, Nels Cline Singers. There are no singers in this ensemble! Nels Cline, lead guitarist for the alternative rock band, Wilco, leads this experimental jazz band. Named one of twenty “modern guitar Gods” by Rolling Stone in 2007, Cline is an eclectic improviser who has appeared with Charlie Haden, Gregg Bendian, Wadada Leo Smith, Tim Berne, and Vinny Golia in jazz contexts as well as playing and recording with diverse projects from rock and pop to country and blues. Among his many exploits have been reworkings of classics from John Coltrane. His trademark sound derives in part from the use of pedal and looping effects.

Rebop

If Twin Cities guitarist Paul Renz went Beyond Blues on his last release, his new Rebop takes us well beyond bop, revisiting, reimagining, running circles around it. Again, Renz produces an eclectic set of largely original fare, moving from bop to funk, from blues to fusion and even a side trip to Brazil, again with his core rhythm team of Brian Ziemniak (Hammond B-3 and piano), Eric Graham (bass), and Nathan Fryett (drums). This time he brings on board master flautist Anders Bostrom from New Jersey, creating a distinctly different harmonic blend. All will be on hand on Saturday, May 31st to celebrate the relesase of Rebop  (Gabwalk Records) at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis.

A native of Washington, DC, Paul Renz earned degrees from the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. His academic resume includes developing jazz curriculum at an arts magnet high school in Norfolk, VA and teaching jazz at Tidewater Community College before coming to Minneapolis in 1994 to direct jazz studies at the West Bank School of Music. He’s also resident guitar instructor at the MacPhail Center for Music. Renz wasted no time becoming an integral part of the Twin Cities jazz scene in the mid 90s, continuing his roles as composer and bandleader as well as performer on guitar and electric bass. His five previous recordings earned such accolades as “neatly balancing taut and tuneful charts with spontaneous solos” (Tom Surowicz re Everlasting), “a challenging guitarist who keeps the pot boiling” (Frank Robolino re Dish It Up), “impressive compositional and instrumental chops” (Dan Emerson re Hubbub), and “serious fun for everyone” (Jim Meyer re Beyond Blues).

Andrés Prado © Andera Canter

Lima, Peru native guitarist/composer Andrés Prado  made quite an impression on local jazz audiences during his two years in the Twin Cities.  His performances at the Artists Quarter and Dakota, as well as at the KBEM Winter Jazz Festival and Freedom Jazz Festival, featured diverse sets ranging from Coltrane to Peruvian folk themes. Relocating again to Lima last September, Prado returns to the Artists Quarter this weekend (May 30-31) and to the Dakota on Tuesday (June 3rd),  bringing along his wide-ranging repertoire rooted in the Andes and Amazon, from Creole waltzes to Afro-Peruvian grooves, and a bevy of original compositions melding all of the above with a post bop sense of invention. His usual suspects include Twin Cities’ all-stars Pete Whitman (sax), Kevin Washington (drums), Anthony Cox(bass) and Peter Schimke (piano).

Only in his mid 30s, Andres Prado brings to his music the influences of jazz and classical studies at conservatories in Lima (National Conservatoire of Music), Buenos Aires (Avellaneda School of Popular Music), and London (Trinity College of Music). During his post-graduate studies at Trinity in 2002, he garnered three prestigious awards—the Isabel Bond Gold Medal Award for best performer of the year, the Montagu Cleeve Guitar Prize for best guitarist, and the founders Prize for Excellence. Prado has taught Latin and jazz guitar at conservatories in both London and Peru over the past few years, as well as lecturing in Jazz Performance at McNally Smith in St. Paul.

Scholarship Winners Joe Strachan and Jacob Wittenberg©Andrea Canter

Whenever young jazz musicians are recognized for their talent and hard work, the larger jazz community benefits. The 2008 Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition, sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education and Schubert Club, held its final round at the Dakota Jazz Club on May 18th. Open to students ages 15 through 18, the competition rewards excellence among students of America's great indigenous art form. This year, two $500 scholarships are awarded to finalists Joe Strachan of Northfield and Jacob Wittenberg of Mendota Heights. Following their live performances in front of a panel of judges, Jacob was named recipient of the additional $500 Performance Award. The two scholarship winners will perform on the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education/MacPhail Center for Music Stage on June 29th at the Twin Cites Jazz Festival; in the coming year, they will also be invited to perform as part of the Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concert series at Landmark Center. 

The Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Minneapolis-based Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, dedicated to bringing jazz and education together through educational programs and performance opportunities. Recent activities have included the expanded Dakota Combo project, an ensemble of standout high school jazz artists directed by local trumpeter/educator Kelly Rossum; summer jazz camp scholarships; and sponsorship of the Student Stage at the winter and summer editions of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. 

The Schubert Club is a long-standing St. Paul organization dedicated to the promotion and performance of classical music. In addition to its acclaimed concert series, the Schubert Club promotes education and performance opportunities for future professional musicians through several scholarship programs.  

Bobby Lyle©Andrea Canter

“…a veteran keyboardist who has always infused his funky rhythm and jazz with a touch of elegance and improvisational spirit.” Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide 

He’s back again! Keyboard prodigy-turned music director and bandleader Bobby Lyle comes home to the Dakota for one night, pairing his funky keyboards with the versatile voice of Patty Peterson and her band, the TC Jammers. It’s home town hero meets heroine. 

Bobby Lyle was born in Memphis, moving north to Minneapolis with his family. He started piano lessons under his mother’s tutelage at age six, noting that “growing up in a climate where you had six months of winter every year provided lots of practice time.” Influenced primarily by Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Erroll Garner, and Art Tatum, as a teen in the early 1960s, Lyle was the talk of the town. At thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, he was burning up pianos and Hammond B3s, soon gigging in clubs that couldn’t yet serve him. Eventually he quit college to go on the road with Red Holt and Eldee Young, soon coming to the attention of Jimi Hendrix, with whom he worked a short time before Hendrix’ death. His family moved to LA and Lyle toured for a while with Sly and the Family Stone, then Ronnie Laws. After making a few recordings for Capitol, Lyle joined forces with George Benson, later touring with and serving as Music Director for Al Jarreau, Bette Midler, and Anita Baker. From the late 80s to mid 90s, Lyle made six recordings for Atlantic, still touring with his own bands and with Bette Midler. 

Mary Louise Knutson © Andrea Canter

Among the top echelon of a rich pool of Twin Cities’ pianists, Mary Louise Knutson is highly respected for her commitment to composition and teaching, as well as her broad range of performance chops. One of five finalists in the first-ever Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Piano Competition, held at Kennedy Center in 2005, Mary Louise returns to the Dakota on May 28th with her exceptional trio partners, Gordon Johnson on bass and Jay Epstein on drums. 

After graduating from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music (Appleton, WI), Knutson cut her performance teeth with such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Slide Hampton, Richie Cole, Greg Abate, Von Freeman, and Billy Hart; and toured with Smoky Robinson, the Osmond Brothers, Engelbert Humperdinck, comedians such as Phyllis Diller, and internationally with Synergy (formerly Rupert’s Orchestra). A former jazz instructor at Carlton College, today she conducts master classes and often provides keyboard support for local divas Connie Evingson and Debbie Duncan, the JazzMN Big Band, and the Doug Little Quartet. But her chops are most apparent with her own trio, playing her own compositions and arrangements. Her compatriots at the Dakota, bassist Gordy Johnson and drummer Phil Hey, are also the nucleus of her highly acclaimed recording, Call Me When You Get There, released in 2001 on Meridian Jazz and set for release in Japan this month. Said Jazz Times, "Call Me When You Get There is...state-of-the-art piano trio finery." Deservedly, Knutson has earned considerable recognition as a composer, including two awards from Billboard magazine for her compositions, "How Will I Know?" and "Meridian.” No small wonder that Call Me When You Get There hit the jazz charts’ “Top 50” in the United States and Canada for eight consecutive weeks following its release!