Here is the top ten new releases from Jazz88! Vote for your five favorites below!   Zacc Harris – This Day Laufey – From the Start Jake Baldwin and Ted Godbout – Cornflower Blue Javon Jackson – When the Time Is Right Nubya Garcia – Set it Free ft. Richie Arooj Aftab – Aey Nehin...Read More

Jake Baldwin and Ted Godbout stay busy enough playing as sidemen that I consider it a godsend when they find time to work as leaders. When trumpet player Jake Baldwin and pianist Ted Godbout realized they had a pile of originals they had never recorded, they decided to connect with some great players and read...Read More

Jazz88 celebrates the birthday of Melissa Aldana, a New York-based saxophonist who has earned praise and recognition from critics and musical peers as one of the most accomplished tenor players on the contemporary jazz scene. Aldana was born in 1988 in Santiago, Chile and was taught to play by her father, renowned saxophonist Marcos Aldana. Discovered by...Read More

Vocalist Bruce A. Henry is back in town for a holiday performance with the JazzMN Orchestra. Though Henry didn’t sing holiday music for the first half of his career, he reconnected with the canon during a holiday show at a shopping mall in Colorado and hasn’t looked back since. In this conversation, Henry shares how...Read More

Sam Kennan spoke with Cody Steinmann about his new record, Confined Spaces. It’s the first from his trio with bassist Chris Bates and drummer Abinnet Berhanu. They have a release show in Minneapolis, December 5th at Berlin. Interview here: https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20241202100543-CodySteinmann_ConfinedSpacesinterview.mp3 More Posts for Show: Minnesota Jazz TracksRead More

Here is the top ten new releases from Jazz88! Vote for your five favorites below!     Laufey – From the Start The Bad Plus – Grid/Ocean L.A. Buckner and BiG HOMiE – Fireflies Diego Figueiredo – Samba Pra Bonfa Zacc Harris – This Day Immanuel Wilkins – Dark Eye Smile feat. Cecile McLorin Salvant...Read More

Zacc Harris is a fixture in the Twin Cities jazz scene. More than just a celebrated guitar player, Harris is the head of Shifting Paradigm Records, a Minnesota-based record label that releases gems from all around the globe. For Harris’s latest release, Chasing Shadows, he left his students and his family in Minneapolis for a couple...Read More

Jazz88 connected with Windom, Minnesota’s own Maria Schneider on her birthday to celebrate her Grammy-laden career and her continued connection to Minnesota but Schneider wanted to talk about was the new anthem she’s written for her hometown team, the Vikings. Supported by her orchestra’s trombone section and the beefiest baritones Julliard has to offer, Schneider’s...Read More

Jazz88’s goal is not just to play the jazz hits of yesteryear but to celebrate the great contributions being made to the art form today. To that end it was inspiring to see so many great artists from our playlist show up all over the Grammy nominations. Our music director Sean McPherson will be celebrating...Read More

The New Standards are a jazz-adjacent trio featuring John Munson (bass and vocals), Chan Poling (piano and vocals), and Steve Roehm (vibes). Though the group has plenty of rock’n’roll pedigrees on their resume, all the members have a deep love and knowledge of jazz. The New Standards rely on that love of jazz and the...Read More