National Headliners

One or twice per month, you can count on Kenny Horst to schedule both well-established jazz virtuosos and nationally (or internationally) touring rising stars. This fall is a blowout:

Pianist Rick Germanson (9 PM, October 8-9, cover $10) is a thirty-one-year-old Milwaukee native who "performs with delicate grace...using just the right touch to evoke a variety of textures" (Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz). Winner of the Grand Prize in the American Pianist Association Jazz Piano Competition in 1996, Germanson moved to New York, and has performed and toured with a long list jazz greats, including Elvin Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Slide Hampton, the Mingus Big Band, and vocalists Kevin Mahogany and Carla Cook. In 2003, Germanson released his first recording as leader (Heights, Fresh Sound New Talent), prompting Bill Donaldson (Cadence) to note, "Germanson has grown into an artist who is as comfortable accompanying a lead musician as he is performing his own music with clarity and grace." The pianist will return to the Twin Cities in November, appearing at the Dakota with Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band.

The avant garde Grismore-Scea Group (9 PM, October 15-16, cover $10) mixes free bop, electronics, and percussion to produce ethereal, adventurous sounds reminiscent of the Ornette Coleman/Pat Metheny collaborations and electronic Miles Davis. Formerly the director of jazz studies at the University of Iowa, group leader Steve Grismore has been playing the guitar for over thirty years. He is also the founder and director of the Iowa City Jazz Festival, where Grismore Scea performed this past summer. The most recent incarnation of the group includes Grismore's band partner, reedist Paul Scea, and Twin Cities' bass virtuoso, Anthony Cox. Grismore Scea promises to challenge the most serious jazz fans with their highly creative, twisting compositions.

The London-based Andrés Prado Trio (9 pm, October 21, cover $7) is made up of three young musicians, including Norwegian drummer Terje Evensen, British bassist Mat Elliott, and Peruvian guitarist Andrés Prado. Prado, guitarist, composer, and band leader, studied jazz and classical guitar in conservatoires in Lima, Buenos Aires and at Trinity College of Music, London. His music reflects his native Andean and Amazon melodies, as well as Creole waltzes. Together, the trio blends South American and jazz themes into an imaginative mix.

Blues and jazz guitarist Greg Skaff (October 29-30, cover $10) has been playing to critical acclaim for over 20 years. After teaching himself to play classic rock, R&B, and the blues in his native Wichita, Skaff was inspired to look into jazz on hearing Jack McDuff, Lou Donaldson, Jay McShann, and particularly George Benson. His jazz education was solidified by five years on the road with the Stanley Turrentine Quintet. Since then he's worked with Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Watson, and Kevin Mahogany, as well as his own quartet. His latest recording (to be released in early October), Ellington Boulevard (Zoho Music), features Mike LeDonne (organ) and Joe Farnsworth (drums), who appeared with Eric Alexander in September at the Dakota. Sax titan Bobby Watson notes, "Greg is the most versatile and imaginative guitarist I've played with. He has one foot in the past and one foot in the future, so anything the music calls for... he's there!!!" Better than that, he will be here at the Artists Quarter, playing with Billy Holloman and Kenny Horst.

A disciple of J.J. Johnson, Detroit native Curtis Fuller (8:30 and 10:30 PM, November 5-6, cover $20; early shows non-smoking) is considered one of the genre's leading bop trombonists. From his days in an Army band led by Cannonball Adderley in the early 1950s, Fuller moved on to New York, where he played with Miles Davis, recorded as sideman for Bud Powell, Cliff Jordan, and John Coltrane (including Blue Trane), and made some recordings as leader himself. Known for his agility and rich, powerful tone, he gained considerable popularity, and formed long-standing partnerships with Benny Golson and Art Farmer, as well as a five-year stand with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the 1960s. He later toured with Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Over the decades, Fuller has continued to display the tone and fire that brought him fame, despite battling lung cancer in recent years. I had the opportunity to hear him on his "70^th Birthday" tour last winter at Blues Alley in Washington, DC, and he still commands a dark and boppin' horn. And he still records, with a new release with trumpeter Brad Goode, Up Jumped Spring (2004, Delmark).

The Complete AQ Fall Schedule

• Brian Grivna Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 9/29
• Pete Whitman X-Tet $6. 9:00 pm. Thu 9/30
• Happy Apple $10. 9:00 pm Fri-Sat; 8:00 pm Sun 10/ 1-10/3
• Dave Karr Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 10/6
• Peter Schimke Trio $3. 9:00 pm. Thu 10/7
• Rick Germanson $10. 9:00 pm. 10/8-10/9
• Jerry Swanberg's Big Band Scene Live 7:30 pm. Sun 10/10
• Chris Lomheim Trio $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 10/13
• Phil Hey Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. Thu 10/14
• Grismore Scea Group $10. 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 10/15-10/16
• Brian Grivna Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 10/20
• Andrés Prado Trio $7. 9:00 pm. Thu 10/21
• Irv Williams CD-Release Shows $10. 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 10/22-10/23
• Benefit for United Family Practice Clinic 6:30 pm. Sun 10/24
• How Birds Work $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 10/27
• Pete Whitman X-Tet $6. 9:00 pm. Thu 10/28
• Greg Skaff $10. 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 10/29-10/30
• Misplaced Piano Showcase $7, 8 pm, Wed 11/3 
• Curtis Fuller $20. 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm. Fri-Sat 11/5-11/6
• Dave Karr Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 11/10
• Phil Hey Quartet $3. 9:00 pm. 11/11
• George Avaloz CD-Release Show 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 11/12-11/13
• Jerry Swanberg presents: Big Band Scene Live Featuring Cedar Avenue Big Band. 7:30 pm. Sun 11/14
• Chris Lomheim Trio $3. 9:00 pm. Wed 11/17
• Pete Whitman X-Tet $6. 9:00 pm. Thu 11/18
• Carole Martin CD-Release Shows $10. 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 11/19-11/20
• Debbie Duncan $10. 9:00 pm. Fri-Sat 11/26-11/27

• Every Monday: Green 7:00 pm
• Every Tuesday: B3 Organ Nite with Billy Holloman $2. 9:00 pm

For full calendar and more information, see www.mnjazz.com or call (651)292-1359. The Artists Quarter is located in the Hamm Building, lower level, at 7^th Place and St. Peter