 Jon WeberİAndrea Canter Twin Cities Jazz Festival returns to downtown St. Paul in mid-June, with the Artists Quarter one of several hubs of musical activity. Throughout the month, however, the festive presentation of jazz continues six nights per week, ending with a three-night stand by local stars of international stature, Happy Apple. Festival Weekend, June 18-20 June 18, The Five (9 pm, no cover). Performing rarely and typically as part of the TCJF, The Five return as part of the Jazz Night Out club crawl. That means you can hop a free trolley and travel the circuit of a dozen participating clubs throughout downtown St. Paul. But why run around in a frenzy when you can just settle in for the night at the AQ and enjoy the diverse and original repertoire of these acoustic jazz giants? Led by drummer/AQ owner Kenny Horst, who provides a core of the compositions, The Five includes multi-reedman Dave Karr, trumpet master Steve Kenny, sublime bassist Tom Lewis, and consummate bopper, pianist Mikkel Romstad.
 Alex HanİAndrea Canter
Weekends in June (9 pm, $10 unless otherwise noted) There is only one festival weekend per year but every weekend at the AQ is special! June 5-6, Eric Kamau Gravatt and Source Code ($12). One of our locally based international jazz stars, drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt is an alum of Weather Report and the bands of McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, and Blue Mitchell. The fusion band Natural Life brought Gravatt to the Twin Cities where he worked with Bob Rockwell and Bobby Peterson. After twenty years working in corrections interrupted his full-time jazz career, he has now resumed playing locally and touring nationally, with the McCoy Tyner Trio as well as leading his local band Source Code. Source Code (taken from software lingo for a collection of instructions to generate the programs that run on our computers, PDAs, cell-phones and toasters) tackles the works of such heavyweights as Coltrane and Jackie McLean—and this band has the power to handle the repertoire. A new configuration features Dave Leigh on trombone, Jim Marentic on sax, Mary Louise Knutson on piano and Ron Evaniuk on bass.  Jay EpsteinİAndrea Canter June 12-13, Jay Epstein CD Release with Bill Carrothers and Anthony Cox. It’s been more than a decade between recordings for this trio, but well worth the wait as they celebrate the release of Easy Company. You couldn’t ask for three more creative and compatible musical souls for a collaboration, as each has established himself as an exciting individual artist while in varying combinations, the trio has years of partnership experience. Leader and trapset magician Jay Epstein has enjoyed many projects with both Cox and Carrothers, including the latter’s Armistice 1918 ensemble. His other local activities have included Red Planet, Counterclockwise, Impulso, Framework and more. Internationally acclaimed bassist Anthony Cox has performed with Dewey Redman, Geri Allen, Bobby Previte and more, and locally keeps the pulse for the Jazz Is Now Nownet. Pianist Bill Carrothers may be better known in Europe than in the US. In addition to his frequent European tours and prolific discography, Bill has played with many of the best—Joe Beck, Curtis Fuller, Eric Gravatt, Lee Konitz, Dewey Redman, Bill Stewart and more. His winter 2008 visit recreated his acclaimed epic Armistice 1918, one of the outstanding music events of the year.  Happy Apple
Weeknights Are Jazz Nights (9 pm, $5 cover unless otherwise noted)
First Mondays, Poetry Slam/ (8 pm, $5). Soap Boxing slam this month on June 1st. Other Mondays, Headspace (7- 9 pm), Open Poetry (9 pm) (no cover). Replacing the long running Green, some of the faces will look familiar. Headspace features Rob Dewey on piano, Nick Haas on guitar, Rich Casey on bass and Spencer McGinnis on drums. Tuesdays with the Tuesday Night Band (early set—7 pm with Schmidt/ Wong/ Mussleman/ Schuster). B-3 Organ Night with the Tuesday Night Band features “Downtown” Bill Brown on Hammond B-3, along with Billy Franze on guitar and Kenny Horst on drums. A weekly tradition at the AQ, you never know who might sit in—Joey DeFrancesco usually appears whenever he’s in town. Tuesday night expanded last year with an exciting new band featuring Zach Schmidt, Cory Wong, Dan Musselman and Andy Schuster playing an early show at 7 pm (no cover). These young, talented musicians provide the perfect starter for AQ's longest-standing engagement. (No cover after 11 pm). Wednesdays, TEFSA Quartet (7 pm, no cover). The AQ is scheduling student and up-and-coming bands for midweek early sets. The TEFSA Quartet includes Dejen Tefsagiorgis, saxophones; Adam Meckler, trumpet; Jesse Mueller, piano; Adam Tucker, bass; and Jaky Nyberg, drums. June 3, OZ Night ($8).  FrankhouseİMelissa Skeans
June 10, Frankhouse CD Release Party (8 pm). Led by trumpeter Dan Frankowski, this band includes Karl Koopmann on guitar, Graydon Peterson on bass, Shilad Sen on sax and Dave Stanoch on drums. They are celebrating the release of Thought Versus Emotion, a diverse set of a dozen originals from Frankowski, one from Koopmann, and covers of Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Kevin Washington. June 11, The Alternates (7 pm, no cover). It’s graduation night – four members of this teen quintet are celebrating graduation and preparing to move on to further music studies at Northwestern (Cory), DePaul (Chris and Rob) and McNally Smith (Peter). Caleb has a year to go at Perpich. Before they head off in different directions, The Alternates will blow out the ceiling at the AQ with their high energy arrangements and original compositions. June 11, Tanner Taylor Trio. One of the area’s most proficient and imaginative pianists leads his trio in their nearly monthly gig. There are not enough superlatives in English to describe Taylor but he rates one for each of the 88 keys.  Kenny HorstİAndrea Canter
June 24, Phil Hey Quartet. A former student of Ed Blackwell and touring partner of the late Dewey Redman, Phil teaches jazz drum at Macalester College and the U of M. One of the most in-demand drummers in the Midwest, Phil keeps busy with the Pete Whitman X-Tet, Chris Lomheim Trio, Laura Caviani Trio, and the Out to Lunch Quintet. This past year he has toured with internationally acclaimed vocalist Stacey Kent. His own quartet features long-time bandmates Dave Hagedorn on vibes, Tom Lewis on bass, and Phil Aaron on piano, playing a repertoire that includes the tunes of Kenny Wheeler, Bobby Hutcherson, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter. The PHQ’s debut recording, Subduction, is one of the best local releases of the decade.  Phil HeyİAndrea Canter
The Artists Quarter is located at 408 St. Peter Street (lower level of the Hamm Building) in downtown St. Paul. Visit www.artistsquarter.com
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Friday, 19 March 2010
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