Irv Williams Quartet (March 4-5, 9 pm; $10). Raised in Cincinnati and Little Rock, Irv Williams first performed in the Twin Cities as a clarinet and sax player with the Navy during Word War II. Turning down invitations to play with Count Basie and Duke Ellington, he made the Twin Cities home and by now, has played every conceivable local venue. Throughout his sixty-year career, Williams has focused on the Great American Songbook and the tenor sax as a solo vehicle. His knowledge of the idiom is legendary and fellow musicians marvel at his ability to play any song in any key. “Mr. Smooth” recently released a new recording, That’s All? and appears during Happy Hour every Friday night at the Dakota. Notes Matt Peiken (St. Paul Pioneer Press), “Veteran saxophonist Irv Williams has always been about sweetness not power, and he's still gigging strong” at 85. Joining Mr. Smooth this weekend will be his cohorts on That’s All—keyboard master Peter Schimke, first-call bassist Billy Peterson, and the AQ’s own drum machine, Kenny Horst.

Mulligan Stew features Dave Karr, trombonist Dave Graf, bassist Gordy Johnson, drummer Phil Hey, and young pianist Tanner Taylor. A native New Yorker, multi-reedist Dave Karr got hooked on jazz 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 nearly 50 years, performing, composing and producing music for radio and TV. Karr has performed with name bands, symphony orchestras, and Broadway shows; he has played and recorded with many local artists, ranging from vocalists (Connie Evingson, Cookie Coleman, Lucia Newell, and Prudence Johnson) and small groups (The Five) to small bands (Pete Whitman’s X-Tet) and the JazzMN Big Band. Dave Graf (trombone) has worked in Dixieland, straight ahead jazz, salsa, big bands, and pit orchestras, and has backed legends such as Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Connick, Julie Andrews and Rosemary Clooney. He performs with Percy Hughes’ Ellington Echoes in addition to the JazzMN Big Band. A former student of Ed Blackwell, Phil Hey is one of the busiest drummers in town and teaches jazz drum at Macalester College. His quartet frequently performs at the Artists Quarter, and Hey is often found on the bandstand backing touring and local vocalists and small ensembles; he also manages percussion duties for the Pete Whitman X-Tet. Gordy Johnson graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a major in flute, and played electric bass with Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, and the Paul Winter Consort. Focusing primarily on a 19th century upright bass in recent years, Johnson has appeared on over 50 recordings with a who’s who of jazz and pop artists, and has kept time for most local and many visiting musicians. He’s released a sublime set of “Trios” recordings. Pianist Tanner Taylor is a recent transplant from Iowa, and has been burning up the keyboards all over the Twin Cities, backing vocalists from Sue Tucker to Christine Rosholt and appearing at Rossi’s, the Dakota, Sophia’s, and other venues. This CD Release Party provides not only the opportunity to hear one of the areas top bands, but also the chance to help contribute to our jazz community—the CD is a fund raiser for the Twin Cities Jazz Society, and on Saturday night, the AQ has pledge to donate profits to help fund local jazz station KBEM FM 88.5.

Carole Martin (March 18-19, 9 pm; $10). Torch singer Carole Martin is riding high on the release of her new collection of beautifully rendered standards, Pieces of a Dream, described by Jon Bream (Star Tribune) as “the finest jazz-vocal CD from the Twin Cities in many a moon.” Despite her longevity as a performer (she’s worked venues like the Point Supper Club, Mar-key Club, the Radisson, the AQ, and the Dakota), it’s been 35 years since Carole’s last recording. Carole always packs the house; her New Year’s Eve show is one of the AQ’s most popular traditions.

APEX (Twin Cities Jazz Society J-Z Concert, 2:30 pm, 1 set, nonsmoking). Sunday afternoon jazz? Sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society, local band Apex performs as part of the renowned J-Z concert series. APEX features Dave Milne on saxes, Dave Graf on trombone, Tom Lewis on bass, vibrophonist Dave Hagedorn, and Phil Hey on drums. An Associate Professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, classical and jazz saxophonist Dave Milne has degrees from Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music. In addition to leading APEX, he also leads the sax band Jazz Ax, and is a Selmer artist/clinician. Trombone master Dave Graf (see above) keeps busy with the JazzMN Big Band, Ellington Echoes, and Mulligan Stew. Vibes master Dave Hagedorn directs the jazz bands and percussion ensemble at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. His performance schedule includes percussion duties with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Opera, and regular jazz gigs with the Phil Hey Quartet and Pete Whitman X-Tet. Hear his CD, Solid Liquid, released last year on Artegra Records. Tom Lewis played bass in Eddie Berger’s last band, The Jazz All-Stars, and is a regular member of the Phil Hey Quartet and Phil Aaron Trio. He’s a first-call musician who plays with just about everyone in town. Drummer Phil Hey (see above) rounds out the quintet.

Bob Rockwell with Kjeld Lauritsen (March 24-26, 9 pm, $12; March 27, 8 pm; $10). Born in Oklahoma and raised in Minneapolis, saxophonist Bob Rockwell played rock, R&B and big band music in his teens. Co-founder of the 70s fusion band Natural Life, Rockwell played with Bobby and Billy Peterson, Eric Kamau Gravatt. Moving to New York, Rockwell joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and played with Tito Puente and Freddie Hubbard. In 1983, Rockwell moved to Copenhagen and has played throughout Scandanavia and toured internationally. Danish Hammond B-3 artist Kjeld Lauritsen will join Rockwell at the AQ for this unusual 4-night homecoming; Kenny Horst will hold court on drums.

Rick Germanson (April 1-2, 9 pm; $10). OK, this is really April, but no foolin’, you want to plan ahead for Rick Germanson! The New York pianist, transplanted from Milwaukee, returns to the Twin Cities following sizzling performances at the AQ in October, at the in November (with Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Legacy Band), and again at the AQ to help celebrate the New Year. Winner of the Grand Prize in the American Pianist Association Jazz Piano Competition in 1996, Germanson 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.” For this return engagement, Germanson is again joined by bassist Terry Burns and drummer Kenny Horst.