Tucked under the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul is the Twin Cities' answer to the famed Village Vanguard--a no frills, basement jazz club. No food, a basic (sometimes smokey) bar, and generally an audience primed for jazz rather than conversation. Owner Kenny Horst is a musician himself, and the AQ is a venue for musicians and their music. Unlike the Vanguard, you can come and go as you please, order a drink when the spirits move you, and neither Horst nor host Davis Wilson ever make you feel like they did you a favor to open the door.

It was this artist-friendly setting that gave birth to the quartet, How Birds Work. After about a year of popular, near-weekly gigs, HBW has released its first recording, Live at the Artists Quarter. And according to CD Baby, "It's jazz. Some of it is out there, some if isn't. Some of it has a little bit of a rock tinge. A lot of it doesn't." I agree, and I would also add "it is simultaneously accessible and challenging" for the listener.

Live at the AQ is an ambitious recording, with tough covers for a first outing, including well-known classics of master composers, Coltrane's "Equinox," Hancock's "Maiden Voyage," and Shorter's "Footprints." These have been performed many times by legendary artists--with the bar set so high, this could be a dangerous play list, but these guys are up to the challenge, and throw in three originals to boot.

How Birds Work is the collaboration of four well-known area musicians--guitarist Dean Granros, keyboard specialist Peter Schimke, bassist Billy Peterson, and AQ owner and drummer Kenny Horst. Each of these artists has established his reputation through diverse routes.

Peter Schimke is one of the busiest keyboard virtuosos in the Twin Cities today, appearing frequently at the AQ, Dakota, and just about anywhere else that requires first class comping and soloing on piano or Fender Rhodes. With How Birds Work, Schimke also displays his skills as a composer and adds vocals to the mix. Notes Don Berryman (Jazz Police), "When he is comping behind a soloist, he is engaged in a subtle dialog, listening and responding with harmonies and rhythms that sometimes represent a suggestion or even a challenge to the soloist." And when he takes off in a leading role, Schimke blazes new trails  and challenges others to keep up.

Billy Peterson grew up as a member of the legendary Peterson family of musicians. He was singing national commercial spots at age 9 with his sister, Linda Peterson, but soon he was trying his hand at a variety of instruments--drums and keyboards while in junior high school. He discovered the electric bass first, then the acoustic upright and played jazz with his father's bands. He was asked to tour with the Righteous Brothers at 16 and eventually formed his own bands, working in pop and rock--and landing on Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. Other projects have included a stint with the Steve Miller Band and arranging for Prince, David Sanborn and Ben Sidran, as well as numerous appearances and recordings with fellow family musicians Bobby, Linda, Patty, and Jean Arland Peterson. Jazz has always been a calling, be it performing with legends like Benny Carter, Clark Terry or Phil Woods, or with local talent.