Yolande Bruce has been a featured vocalist at many churches both locally and abroad. A Minnesota Music Awards nominee for Best Female Jazz Artist in 1993, she has been active in local theater, including Penumbra’s production of Spunk, Illusion Theater productions of  2-Gether, Living Beauty, and  For Our Daughters; Big River at Mankato State University, and the Guthrie Theater’s Dream on Monkey Mountain.  She’s been on the stage of local venues such as the Dakota, Sophia’s and Rossi’s Blue Star Room, and may be best known in this area as a member of the vocal ensemble, Moore by Four. 

Also a member of Moore by Four, Ginger Commodore began her career as a long-time member of the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness. She’s an original member of Women Who Cook and has performed with Yanni, The Minnesota Opera Company, the Twin City Gospel Ensemble, the J.D. Steele Singers, and with several local theater productions. She has also toured internationally with the Chiffons. As part of the Witness Music Series under the direction of Phillip Brunelle, she brings her music into the schools. When not otherwise engaged, Ginger performs with her own quartet and with husband/drummer Bobby Commodore. Two years ago she released Live at the Hot Summer Jazz Festival, where she is a perennial performer.

Debbie Duncan isn’t called Minnesota’s First Lady of Song on a whim. It’s a title she’s earned many times over since her days with Rupert’s Orchestra in the mid 80s. As versatile as she is entertaining, Detroit native Debbie mixes jazz, soul, R&B and down-home blues with power and swing. Debbie has opened for Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Stephane Grapelli, and won the Minnesota Music Award for “Perpetually Outstanding Performer.” Her recording credits include work with Oleta Adams, Jimmy McGriff, pop bands Iffy and B-3, and local jazzers Fat Kids Wednesday, as well as her own recordings, including her most recent, I Thought About You (2006, FS Music). Local gigs include frequent appearances at the Artists Quarter, Times, and Dakota and teaching at McNally Smith College of Music. She’s also toured in Italy and is a former member of The Girls.  

Acclaimed gospel artist Tonia Hughes grew up in St. Louis where her vocal talents were nurtured through community and church ensembles. Moving to the Twin Cities in 1995, she sang with the Minnesota Gospel Sound and was soon opening for Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Little Richard and Fred Hammond. As her solo career gained momentum, she appeared on the Bobby Jones Show, appeared in Encounters at the Southern Theater, and in Black Nativity at Penumbra Theater. The 2004 nominee for Minnesota Gospel Artist of the Year (Minnesota Music Awards), Tonia’s current recording is Just for Hymn. 

If you can’t be in Washington, DC, the next best thing is to be at the Dakota on January 20th, 7-11 pm, where the music will be bipartisan and the big video screens will broadcast the other celebration in our nation’s Capital. And our party is only $10. 

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis; reservations recommended at 612-332-1010 or visit www.dakotacooks.com.