Dayna Martinez is gearing up for a busy June but she took some time to visit Jazz88 and talk about the upcoming Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Festival events begin on June 19 with the main action happening June 20-21. Martinez talked about performances and masterclasses that she’s excited about and she provided some tips on how to go even deeper with Jazz Festival activities.
This interview originally aired on The Afternoon Cruise on 05/28/25
READ THE COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
It’s the afternoon cruise. I’m chatting with Dayna Martinez, the executive director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Twin Cities Jazz Festival is coming up June 19 marks pre festival shows, and then June 20 and 21st have performances from LA Buckner and big homie, Catherine Russell and Sean Mason, the Emmett Cohen trio with the four freshmen, Doreen jazz New Orleans and more. That is truly just the tip of the iceberg. And I should mention that jazz88 is a sponsor of this event. In fact, many of the performers will be taking their performances at the Jazz88 main stage. Dayna Martinez, thank you for visiting jazz88.
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
oh, thank you so much for having me. Sean,
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Now, Dayna, this festival draws a bunch of people to St Paul it is such a high, important part of the whole year’s calendar for jazz fans. And there’s huge crowds all the time in Mears Park by all the stages, people dancing, people taking in the music. But there’s a lot more to the festival than that. So is there anything that’s kind of, you know, under the surface or a little more underground that you want to highlight about the Twin Cities Jazz Festival,
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
absolutely. I mean, the park is great to watch music, but we’ve also got lots of venues around the park where you can go and enjoy an intimate, more intimate experience with jazz. Got venues like Erta Ale Ethiopian restaurant, they have jazz both nights of the festival. Then we’ve got two youth stages as well, because we really love to highlight those up and coming young musicians. Both of our youth stages feature musicians from middle school age to college age. The stages are at metronome Brewing Company during the day, as well as Saint city, which is used to be called creator’s cup, during the day as well. So you can go there. And we also have educational opportunities for those young musicians, because many of our national headliners come in and they do master classes with those musicians. So there’ll be a Doreen Ketchens master class, for example, at metronome on Friday at 115. And so that’s open to the public. You can go and enjoy that. It’s, I think it’d be a lot of fun to see this great clarinetist, you know, kind of giving some tips to other young jazz musicians.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Not only a lot of fun, but also a testament to what’s really important about the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, which is not just folks flying in and coming to wow a single audience, but actually really planting themselves in the scene. You see master classes happening at Walker West this year and things like that. A chance to actually connect with these world class artists in a more intimate setting than just seeing them on a stage. That’s beautiful stuff. You also wanted to highlight something happened at the cedar Cultural Center that weekend?
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
yes, Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd as a post festival. Show is Leslie Parker Dance Project and collaborators, and they are Leslie Parker is a choreographer, but she has a company where they do black dance improvisation. So she’ll be doing a performance at the cedar Cultural Center on Saturday at 430 that is free to the public. And they’ll be performing with a live jazz band as well, and then the next day they do it’s improvisation, right? So the next day they do a completely different show, also at the cedar at 730 and for that, she’s selling tickets for that. So that’s very cool.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
And if anybody wants to know more about Leslie and her work, we did interview her last year with DeCarlo Jackson, in advance of those same same type of performances. One year ago, you’re with the afternoon cruise. I’m chatting with Dayna Martinez. She is the executive director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Dayna, you have to navigate so many intricate details of scheduling, stages, publicity, renting equipment, air travel, et cetera. What is the most exciting and rewarding part about doing your really quite difficult job.
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
wow. Well, you you’ve really overwhelmed me with that statement. Sean, well, you know what? I love being in the park and just enjoying all the people enjoying the music. You know, it’s like throwing a giant party, and people come and they’re having fun and, you know, and then you’ve got your team around you, and we’re just like, just enjoying the people, you know, they’re dancing, they’re smiling. It’s, it’s the best, it’s the best, it really is.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
So the reward is many weeks away, but it’ll be when the show is actually going down, and exactly you can celebrate. You’re right now, I’ve been to the Twin Cities jazz festivals many a time at this point, but you are certainly deep in it. Do you have any pro advice for somebody who wants to enjoy the Twin Cities Jazz Festival this year?
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
Well, what I would do if I was going to the Jazz Festival and I had time to spare, I would go on our website and check out the schedule and kind of just map out what you want to see. There’s an artist page where it has descriptions of each of the artists, and you can kind of say, Oh, I’m going to try seeing, you know, some some dancing, black dance improvisation, that sounds kind of cool. And then you can kind of map it out and and make your make your day, make your jazz journey.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
You know. Let me tack on a little extra pro advice to that very pro advice from Dana Martinez. Print out one of those Metro Transit bus passes that are on the website, or just get it down on your phone somehow. Because every time people are going, Oh, it’s tough, you know, gotta find a parking spot you’re going to a downtown it’s very busy. You take the bus. It makes them manageable, in and out. I stay for the jam sessions Dana and I can still catch the 74 back to my house. So get that metro transit pass. You can really enjoy a full weekend.
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
Thank you, Metro Transit
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Now, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival is free of charge to attend, which is a beautiful thing. And of course, all these master classes are available for people who want to learn more about the players that are at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, but it being free to attend does not mean it is free to throw there’s a lot of expenses associated with the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, and a big part of your job. Dayna Martinez, is the fundraising side of this, right?
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
Yeah. And you know, that is also actually a fun part of the job, okay, yeah. Believe it or not, believe it or not, asking for money. Well, yeah, yeah. Because, you know, we’ve got a great thing going with the Jazz Fest, and it’s and I just love telling people about it. And yes, you are right. We, we rely on sponsorships. Thank you. Jazz 88 we rely on grants. I do a lot of grant proposals, and I also work with a grant writer. So who is actually a trumpet player? Okay, yeah, yeah, that’s, that’s some secret stuff about the Jazz Fest. And then also individual contributors. I mean, we’ve got so many jazz fans that want to support live music, want to support, you know, just jazz in general, in Minnesota. And we’re just very lucky that that we’re able to do that. But it’s, you know, it’s, if you want to know how you can support the Twin Cities Jazz Festival each year. Just go on our website. We’ve got all kinds of information on that.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Twin Cities jazz festival.com.
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
Yep, you got it.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Dayna Martinez, you got some busy weeks ahead of you. I cannot wait to raise a glass of whatever we’re both sipping on on Saturday. Yeah. Well done. Job. Well done. But thank you for what you do for the Twin Cities jazz scene. It is so important that this festival happens, and we’re so lucky that it’s in the able hands that you have to keep this thing running on the path, but it’s an uphill battle. And again, I appreciate you mentioning that fundraising is a big part of it, and folks can learn more about that, as well as about the artists at Twin Cities jazz festival.com. Dayna Martinez, good luck to you as your work goes on and we’ll be celebrating a little bit later in June. Yeah.
Dayna Martinez (TCJF)
Thank you, Sean.
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