Guitarist, Joel Shapira, is back at it with a quartet he last recorded with almost two decades ago. The new record is called Sleepless Montage and the band sounds really comfortable diving back into a new set of tunes penned by Shapira. I was first drawn to the title track at first cause of the...Read More

Music is the ultimate conjurer of emotions. The sounds of “Fireflies” off of L.A. Buckner and BiG HOMiE’s forthcoming record “Norfside” conjures a lifetime of triumph into three and a half minutes of music like the groove downed three espressos before the second measure and as the group navigates the various sections there is a...Read More

We are so lucky to have Zacc Harris in the Twin Cities. Harris is a top-flight guitarist, composer and educator. He also manages to run a premier record label that releases world-class music which represents our local scene and the larger international jazz scene. Through some scheduling miracle, Zacc Harris was able to connect with...Read More

I spent an inordinate amount of my teen years listening to a record by David Fiuczynski called Lunar Crush. It came out in 1994 and it featured John Medeski’s keyboard work all over it. Much of the joy of this record can be found in how wide the palette of sounds is. Multiple keyboards, percussion appearing...Read More

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

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

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

Joyann Parker talks about her new album “Out of the Dark” and the upcoming album release show at The Dakota this weekend. https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20210210071324-JoyannParkerOutoftheDarkalbumreleaseatTheDakota.mp3 Originally aired Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 on the Morning Show with Emily Reese. More Posts for Show: The Morning ShowRead More

Davina Lozier from Davina and the Vagabonds talks about their new holiday album, and their upcoming New Year’s Eve show at The Dakota. https://kbem-od.streamguys1.com/kbem/20201214072301-DavinaandtheVagabondsNewHolidayAlbumandNYEDakotaShow.mp3 Originally aired Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 on the Morning Show with Emily Reese. More Posts for Show: The Morning ShowRead More