Jazz88’s Peter Solomon spoke with pianist Ethan Iverson, who played piano with The Bad Plus for seventeen years. Iverson discusses his recent Blue Note release ‘Technically Acceptable,’ as well as his passion for crime fiction and his controversial New York Times essay critiquing George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ Iverson performs with bassist Anthony Cox and...Read More
Local mainstay and friend of the station, Ginger Commodore, came to visit Sean McPherson on The Afternoon Cruise to discuss her new four-show series, “And the Melodies Still Linger On”. The series launches on Thursday, August 1 at Crooners. Ms. Commodore discussed how she picks songs, accompanists, and why she has been so focused on...Read More
Jazz88’s Peter Solomon spoke with vocalist Jennifer Grimm and 16-year-old saxophonist Grady Cartony about “Next Generation: Jazz,” a show focusing on young jazz artists taking place at Crooners at 5 PM on Sunday, July 21st. Two other showcases at Crooners will feature young artists from the classical scene and the musical theater community. https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20240718110950-JenniferGrimmandGradyCartony_01.mp3 More...Read More
Atlanta-based pianist Joe Alterman hopped on the phone recently to catch up with Jazz88’s Sean McPherson about his upcoming show at Crooners. Alterman discussed how a love of bluegrass brought him to his career in jazz, and discussed the humor he sometimes finds in a player’s dynamic range. Full interview: This interview aired on The...Read More
Twin Cities singer Maud Hixson won a Bistro Award recently for “Permanent Moonlight,” an album of songs by Richard Rodney Bennett. She spoke with Jazz88’s Peter Solomon about her path to becoming a professional jazz singer and about a Doris Day Tribute at Crooners’ Dunsmore Room on April 20th. https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20240415113940-MaudHixson_webmixdown.mp3Read More
Jazz88’s Peter Solomon spoke with Brazilian guitar virtuoso Diego Figueiredo about his musical development and his recent album “My World,” which featured guest appearances by clarinetist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Figueiredo is appearing at Crooners on Friday 3/29. https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20240328093738-DiegoFigwithmusic3_01080.mp3Read More
In the summer of 2020 deVon Russell Gray, Nathan Hanson and Davu Seru recorded the album We Sick in a church in Saint Paul that was available due to the COVID pandemic. The tumult of the summer of 2020 showed up in all sorts of ways on the spontaneously composed recordings. Since the 2022 release...Read More
According to LA Buckner, he is putting “all his eggs into his own basket.” After years of splitting his time as a sideman and as a leader he is focusing on taking LA Buckner and BiG HOMiE up to the next level. To that end, Buckner is making his debut as a leader at Crooners...Read More
Adi Yeshaya is an in-demand arranger and composer whose has done work for Whitney Houston, Prince, Lena Horne and more. In the Twin Cities Yeshaya might be best known for his longtime collaboration with Debbie Duncan. After Duncan’s passing in 2020 Adi started to revisit the charts he had worked up during their decades of...Read More
Jenny Klukken has been bridging the gap between her classical background and her passion for jazz on her primary instrument, the marimba, for years. She’s back at it on Thursday night over at Crooners with an all-star band of Chris Olson (g), Chris Bates (b) and non-Chris Dave Schmalenberger (d). Klukken caught up with...Read More
