Photo by Andrea Canter

“Apex means the highest or culminating point, and for jazz musicians who continue to grow and push the art form, each successful new venture will represent an apex-to-date. APEX does just that.” -–Don Berryman, Jazz Police

Sunday afternoon jazz? Sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society, local band APEX will perform as part of the renowned J-Z concert series. APEX features Dave Milne on saxes, Dave Graf on trombone, Tom Lewis on bass, Dave Hagedorn on vibes, and Phil Hey on drums. Formed about five years ago, APEX features original compositions from each musician as well as arrangements of Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Woody Shaw, and Grachan Moncur, among others. The group has maintained a busy schedule, performing at the Artists Quarter, Dakota, Brilliant Corners, on KBEM radio broadcasts, and throughout the area at jazz festivals.

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 JazzAx, plays with the JazzMN Big band, and is a Selmer artist/clinician. Mb>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, the JazzMN Big Band, and The Five. Vibes master Dave Hagedorn directs the jazz bands and percussion ensemble as Artist in Residence 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. His recording credits include two albums with George Russell, and his own recently released Solid Liquid on Artegra. Recently Hagedorn was the guest artist for the University of Minnesota Jazz Festival. 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. 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.

Photo by Andrea Canter

The band’s “improvisory flights of the imagination” (Twin Cities Jazz Notes) have been captured for a soon-to-be-released recording showcasing original compositions and new arrangements. But you don’t need to wait for the CD—you can spend next Sunday afternoon with the APEX of modern jazz ensembles, in downtown St. Paul at the Artists Quarter.

APEX appears in the Twin Cities Jazz Society J-Z Concert, 2:30 pm on Sunday, March 20th (nonsmoking), at the Artists Quarter—lower level of the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul. Admission is $9 ($7 for Twin Cities Jazz Society members).

Photo by Andrea Canter