Here are the top ten new releases from Jazz88! Vote for your five favorites below!   Ski Club – Swing Tune Paquito D’Rivera – La Fleur De Cayenne The Empress – Nica’s Dream James Brandon Lewis – Exactly, Our Music Rachel Therrien – Back Home Matty Harris – Farmers Market Okonski – Summer Storm Astronomy...Read More

The legendary guitarist Mark Whitfield is making his way back to the Twin Cities for a set at the Lakeside Guitar Festival on Saturday, August 9. Whitfield is no stranger to Minnesota, having played here frequently at the beginning of his career when he was touring with Brother Jack McDuff. Whitfield covered the details of...Read More

Get Ready for Next Week’s Concerts Now Larry McDonough Quintet featuring Richard Terrill at Dakota Jazz Club-Monday, August 4th at 7pm, tickets start at $25.47 Bill Simenson Orchestra at Jazz Central Studios- Tuesday, August 5th at 830pm, tickets start at $5 Sheila E & the E-Train at Dakota Jazz Club- Tuesday, August 5th and Thursday...Read More

It’s hard to keep up with Dylan Hicks. The man is no spring chicken and he’s still moving around our scene like a wide-eyed, enthusiastic rookie. Hicks is dropping a new album on August 12 called Avian Field Recordings with his group Small Screens and it’s another great set of tunes with inspired support from some of...Read More

There are few things in the music world as joyous as a well-delivered shuffle. A shuffle is a rhythmic feel with swung eighth-notes and a strong and persistent backbeat. In my opinion, a blues shuffle divides the pros from the amateurs in most settings. When a band can really cook over a shuffle beat the...Read More

Abinnet Berhanu and Yohannes Tona are elite musicians who can cover a lot of ground musically. But, given that they are both Ethiopian-Americans, they bring a lot of passion for Ethiopian music into our scene. After many successful individual efforts, the duo decided to reach out to a likeminded L.A. musician, Kibrom Birhane, and form...Read More

This week’s hot new local single features music from the Ryan Picone Quartet. Picone is a Minneapolis-based guitarist who lives, eats, and breathes jazz manouche, i.e., music inspired by French/Romani guitar legend Django Reinhardt. Picone grew up in Phoenix and came to the Twin Cities to pursue his doctorate in music from the University of...Read More

The concert event honoring our 2025 Minnesota Jazz Legends is now a one-hour radio special available on demand. This April, music lovers gathered at the Minnesota History Center to witness a concert honoring drummer Jay Epstein, pianist and Walker West Music Academy founder Grant West, Dixieland trombonist Art Katzman, and the late, award-winning jazz vocalist...Read More

Trumpeter Jake Baldwin is back with another great solo effort titled Vanishing Point. The album comes out in full in mid-August but we are excited to feature one of the tunes this week! Baldwin tapped the same supporting cast he used on his 2023 release Misc. Items, to explore a new set of beautifully rendered...Read More

JC Sanford, the organizer of the Northfield Jazz Festival, swung by the studios of Jazz88 to discuss the 2025 installment of the festival, which takes place July 11-13. The event is only its second year, but it’s already tripled in size. Sanford and co will host events from Friday evening all the way to Sunday...Read More