Jazz Police - The Dakota Combo at the Artists Quarter (May 5) and MacPhail (May 12)

If you are wondering about the future of jazz, look no farther than the Dakota Combo, an all-star high school ensemble directed by Adam Linz. On May 5, the Combo performs in the Twin Cities Jazz Society’s Young Artists Series at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul (7 pm); the following week on May 12, they perform on the final Jazz Thursdays concert at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis (8 pm). The latter concert will also be a live recording session.

Now in its fifth year, the Dakota Combo is a program of the MacPhail Center for Music in partnership with the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, initiated by MacPhail’s former jazz coordinator, Kelly Rossum. Selected each September through open auditions, students rehearse and perform throughout the school year, including a weekend of clinics and performance with a guest artist. The Dakota Combo has performed at the Dakota Jazz Club, Honey Lounge, Minnesota Music Educators Convention, MacPhail’s Antonello Hall, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, DakotaFest and Sommerfest. Each year students tour area schools. Guest artists have included Bobby Watson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Irvin Mayfield, Tia Fuller and Johnathan Blake. Graduates of the first four seasons have gone on to such prestigious college programs as the Brubeck Institute, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, The Julliard School, Lawrence Conservatory and more.

With Rossum’s move to New York in fall 2009, the jazz program at MacPhail and leadership of the Combo passed to renowned bassist Adam Linz. Linz has high expectations for himself and his students. “I want all these kids to be professional, playing musicians. I want to send the seniors to college knowing that they are ready for the challenges that lay before them.” Among those challenges for the 8 Combo students selected in fall 2010 was learning the music of Charles Mingus. And it paid off as the Combo was selected as one of only 12 high school ensembles in the nation to participate in the annual Charles Mingus High School Jazz Competition and Festival, held in Manhattan in February. Following their performance, the Dakota Combo received the Mingus Spirit Award.

The Dakota Combo performs in New York©Andrea Canter

The Combo’s pother performances this season have included the Carei Thomas celebration at MacPhail (October), Dakota Jazz Club with guest artist Johnathan Blake (December), the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education Fundraiser (March), MacPhail fundraiser (April), and as guest artists for the final Mingus concert on the Jazz Thursdays series (March). In late April, the Combo visited with students and performed at Stillwater and Roseville Area High Schools. They also participated in a two-night composition workshop with visiting trumpet star Dave Douglas.

The Dakota Combo for 2010-2011 includes seniors Danny Hupp, alto/tenor saxophone (Minneapolis Southwest High School); John Cushing, trombone (Minnetonka High School); Brad Allen, soprano/tenor saxophone (Minnetonka High School); Quentin Tschofen, piano (Lighthouse Program, Spring Lake Park); Caitlin Kelliher, acoustic bass (Minneapolis Southwest High School); Jordan Jenkins, acoustic bass (Apple Valley High School); junior Emerson Hunton, drums (Minneapolis South High School); and sophomore DeCarlo Jackson, trumpet (St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts).

The TCJS Young Artists Series features student ensembles (middle school, high school or college level), approximately every other month at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul (408 St Peter Street) at 7 pm. Jazz Thursdays is a MacPhail Center for Music concert series held in Antonello Hall (501 Second Street South, Minneapolis) at 8 pm. There is no admission charge for either concert.

The Dakota Combo will perform on the Youth Stage of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival (June 25), DakotaFest (July 16) and Burnsville Art and All That Jazz Festival (August 20). Auditions for the next season will be held in September—contact Adam Linz at MacPhail for information.