There are some great transcontinental collaborations happening in the Twin Cities Jazz scene! Technology has made it feasible for arrangers from all over the world to get their charts performed and recorded by a topflight big band without having to muster all the players individually. Adi Yeshaya, Ned Kantar and other arrangers in town have...Read More

Jazz bands don’t last long enough. So many times you only hear the alchemy between a given ensemble for one recording and then things change up before the next trip to the recording studio. It is so rewarding when you hear an ensemble stick together and grow. Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield did just that...Read More

The world is paying enough attention to Cory Wong. . .but is Minnesota? Cory Wong is a bona fide festival headliner all around the world with accolades and ticket sales that match or exceed some of the titans in the world of jazz. But perhaps because he hails from Minnesota and is still based here,...Read More

After a long drought from any studio releases, the internationally celebrated Minnesota-based group Happy Apple has a new album out titled New York CD. The tone of this album is definitely leans to moody side with Michael Lewis’s saxophone frequently taking center stage supported by the interplay between bassist Erik Fratzke and drummer Dave King. Happy Apple...Read More

Dylan Hicks is a Minneapolis-based writer and musician who leads a stellar group called Dylan Hicks & Small Screens. It’s obvious that Hicks is confident exploring various forms of writing and music genres, as his song, “The Unicellular Spore,” incorporates brass, woodwinds, and vocals. There’s a little something for anyone wanting to get a peek...Read More

Astronomy Town is an indie jazz group based right here in the Twin Cities! Their first EP, Welcome To Astronomy Town, is a great introduction for what to expect when listening to them: a mix of jazz, lo-fi, and lounge. The track “Coffee & Guinness” lures you into a dreamlike state with the graceful keyboard...Read More

Twin Cities-based guitarist Pavel Jany and his Global Jazz Collegium are back with their latest disc, Labyrinth. Jany and many of the other members of the Collegium also work in the group Ticket to Brasil, but for this group, they follow their interests beyond Brazil and explore many of the international sounds that have become...Read More

Take That Back is a jazz quartet made up of some seriously talented musicians. Led by reed players Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield, the group will release their sophomore album, Splash, on Friday, July 26th. The song “Playhouse Bats” sounds right at home with other groove-oriented jazz, but upon more listens, I discovered its unique,...Read More

Lucia Sarmiento is a local artist who recently released a single titled “Look Up,” which features her incredible saxophone skills. To me, this song perfectly encapsulates the nature of curiosity and wonder. You can hear her genuine joy for creating music and how that’s expressed in “Look Up.” She has an obvious talent at integrating...Read More

Kavyesh Kaviraj, a local composer/pianist/arranger, has managed to give new life to a sound that we are all familiar with. His debut album, Fables, features a unique, nature-inspired piece, “Rain.” It starts soft, but quickly becomes cacophonous, jumping back and forth between the two. I’ve listened to “Rain” all the way through three times so...Read More