Jon Weber and Butch Thompson©John Whiting

Tuesday, June 24, 2008: For fans of stride piano (think melodies on the right hand, beats on the left; think Fats Waller), there was no better place on the planet to be than the Dakota Jazz Club on Tuesday night during the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Three great pianists, two pianos, and a full house of enthusiastic listeners. 

Butch Thompson opened the first set solo, Asaro the second, Weber the third, but each set evolved into a duo or trio. As he does on his Jazz Originals radio show (heard on KBEM-FM 88.5 in Minneapolis on Sundays at 6 p.m. CST and Thursdays at 8 p.m. CST), Thompson introduced each tune he played by telling us about it—who wrote it and when, plus a story or two. Asaro told us about Donald Lambert (“born the same year as Fats Waller, he never achieved fame except among musicians”). Weber asked us which key we wanted him to play in, which piano we wanted him to sit at, and how many flats he should play. (“Seven? Okay, seven.”) 

Butch Thompson and Paul Asaro©John Whiting

Jon Weber and Paul Asaro©John Whiting

During a break, Weber told me, “If all the electricity went out forever, stride pianists would be just fine.” I’m not exactly sure what he meant by that, but I think it had something to do with playing music that makes people happy. 

Pamela Espeland writes about jazz for MinnPost and blogs about jazz at Bebopified, where a slightly different version of this review appears.