Kelly Rossum©Andrea Canter

One of the Twin Cities most innovative jazz artists and educators, trumpeter Kelly Rossum and his Quartet will set the Antonello Stage afire at the MacPhail Center for Music on February 7th as party of MacPhail’s “Jazzed Up Thursdays” series. It’s a most appropriate way to launch jazz at the school’s new home near the Guthrie Theater on the north end of downtown Minneapolis. Curator of the series and director of jazz studies at MacPhail, Rossum will be joined by pianist Bryan Nichols, bassist Adam Linz, and drummer JT Bates. The concert is co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society. 

An acclaimed composer, teacher, and bandleader as well as a can’t-miss performer, Wisconsin native Kelly Rossum comes by his musical chops honestly--his father played clarinet in college and in an Army band; his mother was an accomplished pianist. But it was Dizzy Gillespie’s performance on an episode of Sesame Street that first attracted young Kelly to jazz. Starting out on a rented cornet, he was soon playing along with Doc Severinson records on his new Bach trumpet. He cites as his primary (and very eclectic) influences Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, and J.S. Bach. After completing high school in Omaha and undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska, Rossum earned a Master’s degree at the University of North Texas in classical trumpet and recently completed doctoral work at the University of Minnesota with a specialization in baroque trumpet.  

Adam Linz©Andrea Canter

After working as the big band director at Busch Gardens in Virginia, Rossum moved to Minneapolis in 1996. Since then, he has freelanced in rock, swing, jazz and classical ensembles and performed with the Lyra Consort; he is on the faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music as a trumpet and jazz instructor. With his own jazz bands, Rossum released the all-acoustic Party’s Over/Begun (2002, Yebo). In 2004, he released Renovation (612 Sides), which was named one of the top 20 local albums of the year by the Star Tribune and one of the top 10 by City Pages. Noted Courtney Lewis in Minnesota Monthly, Renovation “solidifies what the local jazz scene has come to love about him: studious authority and the knowledge necessary to pull off unconventional compositions and instrumental choices.”  

Bryan Nichols©Andrea Canter

These days, Kelly Rossum keeps busy with his many projects, in addition to recording: He performs regularly with his Quartet, often as part of the Late at the Dakota series; he also performs with Cuban keyboard dynamo Nachito Herrera; Electropolis, an experimental jazz/rock band featuring electric bass, sax and trumpet with drums; the Pat Moriarty & Ellen Lease Quintet; Pete Whitman’s X-Tet; and the Out to Lunch Quintet (OTLQ), a band dedicated to the music of Eric Dolphy. His teaching schedule is also packed with lessons and master classes, and, since fall 2006, leading a joint project of MacPhail and the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, the Dakota Combo, an ensemble of high-school all-stars. Last spring, Kelly also served as curator and host for the Minneapolis edition of “Looking at Jazz,” a community jazz education program supported by grants in 50 cities around the country. 

JT Bates©Andrea Canter

For an evening full of creative energy, there’s no better gig than the Kelly Rossum Quartet, and no more elegant setting than the new Antonello Hall at the new MacPhail. 
 

MacPhail Center for Music is located at 501 Second Street South in Minneapolis. The Kelly Rossum Quartet performs at 8 pm, admission $10 ($5 students). This concert is co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society’s “Jazz J to Z” series. For more about Kelly Rossum, visit www.krossum.com 

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