The Dakota is the premier jazz club of the Twin Cities consistently bringing the top touring jazz artists as well as showcasing local talent. It is a great place to catch the established jazz greats as well as the rising stars of jazz.

Lowell Pickett (pictured here announcing an act) has been booking talent and running the place for years at the Saint Paul location. Now Lowell, along with new partner Richard Erickson, continues the same thing in the spacious and posh location on Nicollett Mall in the heart of bustling Minneapolis.

The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant used to be called the Dakota Bar and Grill when it was located in the now nearly abandoned Bandanna Square in Saint Paul. Now with the new high-rent location in downtown Minneapolis comes many more patrons. The place is almost always packed with jazz fans and diners. The club has a popular adjoining restaurant, but a smaller menu is also featured in the jazz club.

The list of who has played the Dakota is like a who's who of jazz: Ray Brown, McCoy Tyner, Toots Thielemans, Joey DeFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Chucho Valdes, Benny Green, Max Roach, Joe Williams, Roy Haynes, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Fortune, Frank Morgan, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, Patricia Barber, Von Freeman, Billy Higgins, Charles Brown, and many many more.

The photo on the left shows Houston Person with the Junior Mance Trio at the Dakota (Photo by Don Berryman).