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Thursday, 18 March 2010

An Eclectic (and Busy!) September at the Dakota

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Monday, 03 September 2007

From Vagabonds to Buffalo Collision to Skillet Lickers and Creole Serenaders, from a salute to one of the all-time legends of jazz radio to a rare club performance from one of the all-time legends of jazz guitar, from New Orleans to Africa to our own backyard—September is a month of diverse excitement at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis.

Acts from the National Scene

It’s not all jazz but it’s all great music in September, including a run of four national acts within one week—twice!:

Terence Blanchard © Jenny Bagert

September 4, Terence Blanchard (7 & 9:30 pm). Few jazz musicians have received both Grammy and Golden Globe nominations. Trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard’s resume also includes tenure with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, scoring films for Spike Lee and a long list of acclaimed recordings, including his new requiem for Hurricane Katrina, A Tale of God’s Will. The Artistic Director for the Thelonious Monk Institute in his native New Orleans and Honorary Artist in Residence for the upcoming 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival, Blanchard will perform for one night only with his quintet of young lions--tenor saxophonist Brice Winston, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott and latest addition, pianist Fabian Almazan.

Sean Jones

September 7, Sean Jones (8 & 10 pm). Two hot trumpets in one week? Still in his 20s, Ohio native Jones was raised on gospel music and was attracted to the trumpet as a fifth grader when he encountered the music of Miles Davis. But it was classical training in high school and college that solidified his technique and the experience of teaching elementary school music that inspired him to want to share his music. As a student he won two awards from DownBeat as well as a scholarship to Rutgers. With four acclaimed recordings (including a new Mack Avenue release in August), Jones now finds himself atop a growing list of young trumpet masters, holding the lead trumpet chair for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and a professorship in jazz studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. His volcanic sextet includes another young brass master, tenor saxman Walter Smith III. It will be a fountain of youth spewing musical steam on the Dakota stage for a rare Friday night national act.

Mina Agossi © Andrea Canter

September 9-10, Mina Agossi (7 & 9:30 pm). One of the most exotic and interesting vocalists to grace the Dakota stage, Mina Agossi’s appearance last fall garnered pleas for an early return visit. With roots in African and France, Agossi can take a classic jazz tune and turn it inside out, backed by the unique support of just bass and drum. While the music integrates everything from jazz to hip hop to rock and world grooves, the emphasis is on improvisation in every sense of the word, and on stage there’s a continual state of spontaneous combustion. Her co-conspirators, bassist Erc Jaquot and drummer Ichire Onoe, bring more global flavors and high flying talent to the trio’s collaborations.

September 11-12, Tim Berne and Buffalo Collision (8 & 10 pm). Four acclaimed experimental jazzmen join together in a real collision of sound! A major presence on the improvised music scene for over 25 years, alto saxophonist Tim Berne has led such remarkable projects as Hard Cell, Science Friction and Paraphrase, as well as his own label, Screwgun Records. Throw into the mix two-thirds of the Bad Plus—pianist Ethan Iverson and our own hometown percussion whiz, Dave King, and finally add in avant garde violist Mat Manieri, and you have Buffalo Collision! Expect a night of free improve and sonic surprises for their Twin Cities debut.

Ruthie Foster

September 16, John McLaughlin (7 & 9:30 pm). Once a bandmate of Tony Williams and Miles Davis (In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew), the maestro of fusion guitar may be best known as the leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a band that brought respect to the integration of jazz and rock, flavored with Eastern and Indian influences. After Mahvishnu disbanded, McLaughlin moved to the acoustic Shakti, considered one of the major forces in world music with its fusion of jazz and Indian traditions. His collaborations over the years have included such giants as Zakir Hussein, Carlos Santana, Carol Bley, Gil Evans, Larry Coryell, Paco DeLucia, Al DiMeola, and Jaco Pastorius and Tony Williams as the Trio of Doom. This one-night stand will challenge the structural integrity of the Dakota as electronics and sonics explode on stage! Reserve early!

September 17-18, Ruthie Foster (7 & 9 pm). A singer who defies classification, Ruthie Foster straddles folk, blues, soul, jazz and gospel, bearing such diverse influences as Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James, and Lightnin' Hopkins! From her native Texas, Ruthie has toured with the U S Navy band “Pride”, was an Atlantic recording artist in the early 90s, and has enjoyed a resurgence of her career in the past decade. With her recent release aptly titled The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, the Boston Globe described her as “a natural-born singer with a voice that is potent, unfussy, and, at times, deeply moving.”

Charlie Hunter © Andrea Canter

September 24, Charlie Hunter Trio (7 & 9:30 pm). Now considered one of the living masters of jazz guitar, Charlie Hunter was more into rock, blues, funk and soul until, at 18, he was turned on to Weather Report, then Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian and John Coltrane. As his sound evolved, he incorporated the influences of the great jazz organists (Jimmy Smith, Larry Young) as well as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Hunter formed his first trio with a regular gig at the Elbo Room, featuring his unique sound on a 7-string guitar. Later a custom-made 8 string guitar gave him his trademark sound, allowing him to play both lead guitar and bass simultaneously—creating a sound much like the Hammond B-3 of his early influences. (He’s since modified the instrument at a 7-string with an 8-string sound.) In addition to his own Trio, Hunter formed the fusion Garage A Trois and has worked with drummer Bobby Previte on the Groundtruther and The Coalition of the Willing projects.

LaVay Smith

September 25-26, LaVay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers (7 & 9 pm). In the style of the 40s and 50s classic songstresses, LaVay Smith has earned accolades from everyone from DownBeat to Bill Clinton. Growing up in Southern California and the Phillipines, Smith is known as the Diva of Jazz and Blues, with a singing style influenced by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Bessie Smith. Her eight-piece band (the Red Hot Skillet Lickers) tours extensively throughout the world, appearing at top clubs and festivals, the music marked not only by its swinging energy but also for its hilarious and provocative lyrics. You might even want to bring along your dancing shoes!

September 27, Don Vappie & the Creole Serenaders (7 & 9:30 pm). Public Radio’s American Routes host/folkorist Nick Spitzer presents an evening of French Creole “hot jazz” under the leadership of vocalist/tenor banjoist Don Vappie. Vappie was recently in the Twin Cities with Davell Crawford at the Dakota and with Delfeayo Marsalis’s Tribute to Count Basie at Orchestra Hall. His Creole Jazz Serenaders are considered to be the classic jazz orchestra of the Crescent City. Their repertoire repertoire includes the early years of Creole jazz as well as music from Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Mills Blue Rhythm Band, Jabbo Smith, The New Orleans Owls, The Astoria Hot Eight and more.

September 30-October 1, Olu Dara (7 & 9:30 pm). A cornetist, guitarist and singer, Olu Dara has followed a long legacy of musicans, including great uncles who performed with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. He initially built his reputation as an avant garde artist, playing with the likes of David Murray and Henry Threadgill. His musical persona expanded in the late 90s as a bandleader that merged African traditions with blues, jazz, storytelling, funk and reggae. Father of Rapper Nas, Dara has appeared on recordings with his son, and has also worked in theater as an accomplished playwright and actor.

Special Event: MPR Honors Leigh Kamman, September 23^rd (6 pm)

Soon there will be a dramatic change in the national voice of jazz radio as Jazz Image host Leigh Kamman steps down after a career spanning more than 60 years. Kamman was first attraced to jazz in the early 1930s when he began to listen to 78 rpm recordings that his parents enjoyed, and his appreciation grew throughout his teens. Working for his high school newspaper, he managed to meet Duke Ellington at a train station in St. Paul. Kamman’s first jazz broadcast in 1940 was on WMIN radio, followed by work at WBEC in Duluth. During World War II, he broadcast shows via the Armed Forces Radio from Denver. Back in the Twin Cities, he worked at WLOL before moving for a few years to New York where he was able to interview some of the jazz greats at the Apollo Theater. Returning to the Twin Cities, he worked at WLOL and KSTP before landing at MPR. Broadcast nationally, The Jazz Image has run continuously since 1973 with Kamman as host. Over the past decade, Leigh has often been seen as host of Northwest Airlines-sponsored shows at the Dakota, and in 2007 he received the “Jane Award” from the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education. Tonight’s celebration includes an optional dinner or cocktail seating, with proceeds going toward a scholarship in Kamman’s name.

Music Every Night: The Best of Local Artists

September 1-2, Davina and the Vagabonds (8 pm Saturday, 7 pm Sunday). The hottest blues band in town.
September 5, Brian Grivna & Pete Whitman (7 pm). Two outstanding saxmen join forces!
September 6, Katie Gearty (7 pm). Quickly becoming one of the area’s most popular singers, and with good reason!
September 13, Tom Hunter (7 pm). From smokey jazz to gutbucket blues, pianist Hunter does it all.
September 14, Dan Kusz (8 pm). Smooth sax from a young star.
September 15, George Maurer (8 pm). The whole of mainstream jazz, from trad to swing and bop.
September 19, Signe Hensel (7 pm). Another popular vocalist with plenty of pizazz.
September 20, James Buckley CD Release (7 pm). Inventive young bassist with his trio.
September 21, Connie Evingson (8 pm). One of the area’s most accomplished and prolific jazz artists, with a repertoire that ranges from Peggy Lee and John Lennon to Django Reinhardt.
September 22, Scottie Miller (8 pm). Contemporary piano blues and vocals—the perfect weekend gig.
September 28-29, Nachito Herrera (8 pm). The Cuban piano monster brings his picante ensemble to the Dakota every month, and it’s always a party!

Late Night Series (11:30 pm – 1:30 am)

Friday and Saturday nights at 11:30 are reserved for the best in local experimental and new music from veterans and newcomers. The best reason to stay out late!