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’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

Pianist Aaron Parks speaks to Jazz88’s Peter Solomon about his most recent project on the Blue Note label, a quartet session called “By All Means,” featuring bassist Ben Street, saxophonist Ben Solomon, and legendary drummer Billy Hart. Parks also discusses his musical influences, how he dealt with being labelled a jazz prodigy, and talks about...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

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