This week’s Hot New Local Single “Prayer for Mim in the Color of Marigold” is contemplative and ambient and serves as a dedication to the late Mimi Parker of Low. Bassist Liz Draper has been playing with a variety of folk, rock and jazz artists throughout her career. Having performed with Charlie Parr, The Okee...Read More

This week’s Hot New Local Single is “Epsilon” from the BZ3 Organ Trio. Since the group’s inception in 2023, they have embraced a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, soul, R&B, and funk. This tune marks a bit of a departure for the group with an unapologetic eighties vibe. Fiely’s guitar and Brian Ziemniak’s...Read More

This week’s Hot New Local Single is from the group Duo CORDA, comprised of guitarist Pavel Jany and cellist Jacqueline Ultan. Ultan is a Yale-educated musician who teaches music at MacPhail and incorporates her cello into a wide range of musical settings, including projects like Saltee that feature her cello in combination with beatbox and...Read More

The duo known as Pierpont & Helgeson are out of the Twin Cities and an extension of the long running funk and soul label, Secret Stash Records. The multi-instrumentalists, composers  and producers function as essentially a studio project and offered a slew of drops of ambitiously funky, cinema phonic and ambient musical excursions this past year. Coming out...Read More

This week’s hot new local single “Do You Feel Good,” from trumpeter Adam Meckler’s recent hip-hop meets big band project, Sampled.  The album’s ten selections are reworkings of music originally recorded by the Adam Meckler Orchestra. Meckler collaborated with a variety of rappers, producers, vocalists, and instrumentalists to rework his compositions. “Do You Feel Good” is...Read More

Saxman Andrew Tomten has been a part of the powerhouse horn section of Purple Funk Metropolis for years now. Andrew is also a Minneapolis-based graphic designer, motion designer and illustrator with an impressive portfolio. Having composed and performed his own music in the past, he’s out of the gate in 2026 with a new track, “Motorbike Man”....Read More

This week’s hot new local single is “Twelve Thirty-Four,” from Johannes Wallmann’s newest release, Not Tired, released on December 5th. While the musicians are from our neighboring state Wisconsin, the record was released on the Twin Cities’ Shifting Paradigm Records, whose roster of artists are no strangers to Jazz88’s airwaves. Here, Nick Moran sets the pace...Read More

Patty Peterson had the pleasure to interview Connie Evingson and Bruce Henry who are both singing with JazzMN Orchestra on December 8th on the mainstage at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters. They talk about the thrill of singing with this incredible orchestra, and how much fun it is to reunite with the friends who are top musicians...Read More

This week’s Hot New Local Single is an original song by Leslie Vincent called “Tallying Strangers.” It’s from her forthcoming album, Little Black Book. Vincent grew up listening to Frank Sinatra as well as more contemporary vocalists like Brittany Spears, The style, phrasing, and instrumentation of her new recording harkens back to the days before rock...Read More

This week’s Hot New Local Single comes to us courtesy of Abinnet Berhanu’s Ahndenet, featuring singer Genet Abate. Berhanu and Abate are both Ethiopian and the music reflects that rich heritage. The song is titled Yinegera, which in English is “Let It Be Heard.” It’s about unrequited love,or as Berhanu explains, “The story of the...Read More