Patty Peterson spoke with Jarrod Lawson before his concert TONIGHT at Dakota. The secret’s out about Jarrod Lawson. The smoky-voiced soul singer from Portland, Oregon (now residing in Nashville) has exploded as an international sensation, topping charts, garnering awards, and leading the way forward into a renaissance of message-focused, modern soul-jazz fusion. Heavily inspired by...Read More

This week, I had the privilege of interview one of the icons in the contemporary jazz world: Saxophonist/arranger Bob Mintzer. He, along with The YellowJackets are coming to town on Jan 21 at Dakota for one night of highly creative jazz. Every time they circle back to the Twin Cities to perform, they have the...Read More

Hanukkah comes early this year on the Jazz Impulse! Tune into the Jazz Impulse on Jazz88  Saturday Night as we will be live from the Dakota in Minneapolis, broadcasting The Klezmatics “Happy Joyous Hanukkah” performance live on the air! Their record  Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah” has recently been reissued for the holidays and is the highlight of the current...Read More

Kristin Korb is that rare breed of musician who is equally adept as a vocalist and a jazz bassist. In this conversation with Jazz88 Morning Show Host Peter Solomon, she discusses her path as an artist, her association with bassist Ray Brown, and her latest project featuring jazz interpretations of music by the British synth-pop...Read More

On his website, drummer, producer and bandleader Makaya McCraven describes himself as a “beat scientist.”Much of McCraven’s work is involved in picking musical moments from his recorded performances and applying hip-hop style production techniques to reinvent the material. McCraven is releasing four new EPs in October, and he is performing live at Icehouse in Minneapolis...Read More

Get planning for your Fall concert schedule with a few picks for Tuesday, September 9th through Sunday September 14th: Tuesday, Sept 9, 2025: Cedar Avenue Big Band at Jazz Central Wednesday, Sept 10 + Thursday, Sept 11, 2025: Barrington Levy at Dakota Jazz Club Thursday Sept 11, 2025: Erin McCawley’s Harrison Street Band at Crooners...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

The Twin Cities Jazz Festival happens in multiple locations and performers range of students to legends. Sam Keenan spoke with musicians we want to highlight. These are great teasers to help you decide all the places you need to listen to jazz during the Twin Cities Jazz. Festival Marimbist Jenny Klukken and her quartet will...Read More

Taiko Arts Midwest presents a concert and dance party called Taiko Groove, Saturday June 7 at the Cedar at 7pm. The event features not only the long-standing Taiko Arts Midwest group, but a rare US performance by Go-koo, visiting from Tokyo. Jennifer Weir is the executive director of Taiko Arts Midwest. When Jennifer talked to...Read More

Jazz88’s Peter Solomon speaks with trumpeter Frank London about the history of klezmer music in America and 40 years of genre bending klezmer interpretations and collaborations by the Klezmatics. London was a founding member of the Grammy-award winning ensemble. The Klezmatics play the Dakota Tuesday night (May 27th) with Minneapolis-based ensemble Red Thread. Find details...Read More