Joshua Redman recently released his Blue Note Records debut Where Are We. The album is much more lyrics heavy than Redman’s previous outings and features Redman’s maiden voyage as a lyric writer. The album is built around a collaboration between Redman and vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa as well as a top notch band featuring Aaron Parks,...Read More

  Dayna Martinez, the Executive Director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, stopped by during the Morning Show to announce the artists that will be featured in the Winter Jazz Fest coming up on February 24, 2024. Winter Jazz Festival is partnering with our friends at kj’s hideaway and Park Square Theatre in Saint Paul to create a spectacular...Read More

  This year Jazz88 has kept track of all the songs we’ve played from the year 2023. We are asking you to vote for your ten favorite tunes to help us put together an hour celebrating the best releases of 2023. Please place your votes before 10pm on Thursday, December 7. Loading… More Posts for...Read More

We are stuffed to the gills in Minnesota with great jazz artists. We wanted to highlight some of the best songs released in 2023. This list is by no means comprehensive and we encourage you to listen our stream dedicated to Minnesota music, Minnesota Jazz Tracks. And don’t miss out on the great local show...Read More

Jazz88 celebrates the birthday of Jim Hall, born this day in 1930 in Buffalo, New York. Hall was widely admired for his harmonic acumen, his understated guitar style and his distinctive compositional voice. While he admired guitar innovators like Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel, he was largely inspired by horn players like Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. After morving to Los Angeles...Read More

José James is a product of South Minneapolis and even though he lives elsewhere he is still strongly connected with the Twin Cities. In fact, James fell in love with jazz as a young teenager thanks to an announcer on Jazz88 outlining the role of Billy Strayhorn in the composition “Take The A Train”. In...Read More

Craig Dion and Jason Craft alongside a cast of talented musicians and vocalists will be gracing the stage of the Capri Theater in Minneapolis this Sunday for a concert celebrating the music of Stevie Wonder. They visited the Afternoon Cruise to discuss the concert, Wonder’s vast musical output and the unique unpolished joy that Stevie...Read More

Jazz88 celebrates the birthday of legendary jazz artist Billy Strayhorn, born this day in 1915 in Dayton, Ohio and raised in Pittsburgh. Strayhorn was a gifted composer, pianist and lyricist who worked closely with Duke Ellington for decades. Strayhorn’s first contribution to the Ellington book was “Take the A Train” which the band used as its theme song....Read More

Ginger Commodore, Judi Vinar and Connie Evingson are all headliners in their own right but they have elected to get together as a triple threat for the first time to usher in the holidays with their Crooner’s concert on November 30 “Holiday Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice”. The trio connected with Sean McPherson from the...Read More

Jazz 88’s Peter Solomon spoke with Erinn Liebhard, director of the St. Paul based dance troupe Rhythmically Speaking about their upcoming show “Chill,” running Dec. 1 -3 at Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul, and featuring original choreography to a live jazz performance of Vince Guaraldi’s score for A Charlie Brown Christmas. (Image by...Read More