Charmin Michelle at Rossi's İ Andrea Canter

Learning about jazz offerings, free and otherwise, is pretty easy online. Check out Jazz Police of course! But also check out the Twin Cities Jazz Society home page, venue websites (The Dakota, Artists Quarter, Rossi’s, Times, Crave, Maude and more have frequently updated sites with music calendars); MinnPost (Pamela Espeland provides a weekly set of recommendations along with an interesting view on one of upcoming events—often a free or cheap one); MPR’s Mary Ann Sullivan has a weekly set of suggestions via an electronic newsletter, as does the Twin Cities Jazz Society E-News. Want print? There are listings every Friday in the Star and Tribune’s Scene section as well as a few highlights in City Pages.

Lee Morgan

“He had a fat, crisp tone, a good range, and he played with immense expressiveness and urgency—a style rooted in the inflexions of the blues, with slurred and bent notes, funky phrases, and great rhythmic momentum.” –Ian Carr re Lee Morgan, Jazz: The Rough Guide

One of jazz’ most prodigious and tragic figures, Lee Morgan is again the subject of a weekend tribute at the Artists Quarter, courtesy of the Jon Pemberton Quintet. Morgan was considered by many to be the pre-eminent bop trumpeter of the 1960s. As a teen sideman for John Coltrane and leader in his own right, Morgan was the acclaimed successor to Clifford Brown, beginning professional gigs around his native Philadelphia at age 15, shortly after Brown’s death. By 18 he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie, was on the front line for Coltrane’s Blue Train in 1957, recorded two hit Blue Note sides as a leader shortly thereafter, and soon joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In 1963, he released his biggest hit, The Sidewinder. All together, Lee Morgan recorded over 30 albums in his short 33 years, a life that ended violently on a New York club stage at the hand of his common-law wife.

Maud HixsonİAndrea Canter

“…my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine.” – Duke Ellington on Billy Strayhorn

“Beyond Category” was a phrase often used by Duke Ellington to describe others who most impressed him, but it was the Duke’s legacy of compositions and arrangements that defied classification. His collaboration with pianist/composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn is as legendary as the works themselves, to be celebrated on April 12th at the Bloomington Center for the Arts by area vocalists Maud Hixson, Lucia Newell and Dennis Spears. They will have the elegant instrumental support of the Rick Carlson Quartet, featuring Carlson on piano, Keith Boyles on bass, Mac Santiago on drums, and Gary Schulte on violin. The concert is sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society as part of its “Jazz J to Z” season.

The 2007 Winners: Javier Santiago, Joel Friedman, Kevin KayİAndrea Canter

Young jazz pianists will again compete for $2000 in scholarships sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education and The Schubert Club. The Fourth Annual Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition, open to students age 15 through 18, rewards excellence among students of America's great indigenous art form. Applications (including an audio recording) are due by noon on April 14th. Finalist will perform before a panel of judges at the Dakota Jazz Club on Sunday afternoon, May 18th.

The Jazz Piano Competition was inaugurated in 2005, with the awarding of three $500 scholarships-- The Marie Froelich Memorial Award, The Jane Matteson Memorial Award, and The David Paulus Memorial Award. In the third competition last spring three finalists were again awarded $500 scholarships—Joel Friedman, Kevin Kay and Javier Santiago. Following their final performances at the Dakota Jazz Club, Kevin Kay was awarded the additional $500 Performance Scholarship. In addition to the scholarships, the finalists were invited to perform at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June.

Dave KarrİAndrea Canter

First organized in 2003 to recreate the sound of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Dave Karr’s Mulligan Stew returns to the stage as part of the MacPhail Center for Music’s Jazz Thursdays series on April 10th. The gorgeous sound and setting of Antonello Hall at the new MacPhail complex down the street from the Guthrie provides a perfect setting for music that is rich in sonic pleasures and features the best of local talent—Karr on bari sax, young Tanner Taylor on piano, Dave Graff on trombone, Gordy Johnson on bass, and Phil Hey on drums.

A native New Yorker, Dave Karr got hooked on jazz by listening to some of the great jazz legends, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Moving to the Twin Cities in his twenties, Karr has been a fixture on the Twin Cities jazz scene for 50 years, composing and producing music for radio and TV since 1970. With Mark Henderson, he formed Mark & Dave Music and Sound Design in 1996. Karr has performed with numerous bands, symphony orchestras, Broadway shows, and recording sessions. Around town Dave performs frequently with his own quartet and backing other musicians at the Dakota, Artists Quarter and other venues, ranging from vocalists (Connie Evingson, Christine Rosholt, Lucia Newell) to small bands (Pete Whitman’s X-Tet) to big bands (Jazz Mn Big Band). Dave is a recent recipient of a McKnight Grant.

SnowblindİAndrea Canter

“Miles Davis said that the only question for a musican was, ‘Do you have ideas and can you project them?’ For Snowblind, the answer is, “at all times.” –Phil Hey 

When none less than virtuoso Twin Cities drummer/educator Phil Hey proclaims his admiration for an ensemble, one needs to pay attention. The brass-laden quintet Snowblind has easily earned this distinction, which has been apparent since they first debuted at the Dakota nearly two years ago. On stage at venues throughout the Twin Cities and at the recent Winter Jazz Festival, now the quintet returns for some more fun on April 9th.  

The founding musicians of Snowblind came together in 2005 through their connections to the University of Minnesota, where all have and/or continue to study: Tenor saxman and Chicago native Shilad Sen is a doctoral candidate in computer science who contributes horn arrangements as well as original compositions. With performance credits including Danilo Perez, Ron Blake, Rufus Reid and Dennis Diblasio, Sen was runner-up in the 1996 North American Saxophonist Alliance Collegiate Jazz Competition.