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

Jazz88’s Peter Solomon speaks with trumpeter Dan Odegaard, a North High alumnus and a member of the Execs Big Band since 1965. The Execs are celebrating sixty years with a celebratory dance Friday night, November 21st from 7 – 10 PM at Bloomington Event Center. Odegaard also leads his own large ensemble called the Classic...Read More

Jazz88’s Peter Solomon speaks with singer, composer, and songwriter Yazmin from the band Yazmin and Beat Zero As a teenager in rural Wisconsin, Yazmin fell in love with the sounds of Cuba, and and as an adult she spent a few years studying dance and music there. Her band is a fusion of her original...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

Pamela York is a pianist based in Lake County, Illinois who is an active member of the jazz scenes of both Chicago and Milwaukee. A couple of years ago, she formed a combo with bassist Clay Schaub and trumpeter Eric Jacobson called the Affinity Trio. On October 17th, the group released their second album, called...Read More

This week’s Hot New Local Single is a recording of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia” by Adi Yeshaya’s Orchestra featuring vocalist Jennifer Grimm. It’s from a new Yeshaya album called Produce. The album features Grimm in a a variety of different musical styles, ranging from the swing era classic “All of Me” to Cole Porter and...Read More

Jazz88’s Peter Solomon speaks with arranger and composer Adi Yeshaya about his latest recording, Produce. The album showcases vocalist Jennifer Grimm. Yeshaya discusses his association with the late Twin Cities singer Debbie Duncan, sheds some light on the arrangements featured on the album, and talks about his upcoming appearance at the Dakota on Wednesday, October...Read More

The Atlantis Quartet have been stalwarts of the Twin Cities modern jazz scene for nearly twenty years. The ensemble includes saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, guitarist Zacc Harris, bassist Chris Bates, and drummer Pete Hennig. The group started out as a kind of composing collective that met on a weekly basis. Over the years they evolved a distinctive...Read More

Jazz88’s Peter Solomon speaks with Grammy and Tony Award Winning Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater about her musical path and how her latest duet album Elemental is a return to her musical roots. Bridgwater talks about the music that she grew up with at home in Flint, MI and listening to the legendary black Memphis station...Read More