If you are a regular listener to KBEM, hopefully you’ve heard Phil Nusbaum’s informative and entertaining feature Twin Cities This Week/Twin Cities Weekend. On a recent playback, I was intrigued by a new band, Sprig Of That, who discussed in-depth a new recording, Eight Threads.Like Phil’s featurette, the group had received an endowment from...Read More

Jihye Lee Orchestra – Daring Mind – Motéma Music link: https://motema.com/As a follow up to her widely-acclaimed 2017 debut April, “Daring Mind” presents selections from Lee’s ‘Mind’ Series, including her BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize-winning “Unshakable Mind” and her Manny Albam Commission “Revived Mind.” The album reflects her struggles, doubts, joys, and hopes while...Read More

  Hello dear listener!I’m gushing as I write this week’s entry. As always, I am overwhelmed by the generous support and bounteous comments from the Jazz 88 listening family. Working remotely for the last three pledge drives as I have, I’ve spent more time on the phones. While I miss the volunteers, it’s been a...Read More

When vocal and piano powerhouse Diana Krall burst on to the jazz scene in the mid-nineties, the form was getting a bit long in the teeth. Most of the legends had passed on or exceeded their peak as far as female vocalists go. In walked Diana: Great vocal and piano chops, a reverence for the...Read More