Live jazz to see in Minneapolis-St. Paul: This week’s picks

Are you in your car or near a radio at 8:30 CST on Friday mornings? Tune to KBEM to hear me and Mr. Jones—Jazz 88 "Morning Show" host Ed Jones—talk about these events and more. 88.5 FM in the Twin Cities; streaming live on the Web.

Friday, Dec. 17: Dee Dee Bridgewater and Irvin Mayfield with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall

The cover of "Eleanora Fagan"

One stage, two jazz stars (maybe more). Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater has a mantel full of serious music awards—a pair of Grammys, France’s Victoire de la Musique, a Tony for her turn as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz—and she’s exciting to see in person, passionate and uninhibited. She sings, she scats, and she makes jazz standards new again; on her latest CD, Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee (Emarcy, 2010), she conveys the spirit of Billie Holiday without imitating her.

Irvin Mayfield

New Orleans-based trumpeter and composer Irvin Mayfield has been the face of the Minnesota Orchestra’s jazz series since being named its first Artistic Director of Jazz in 2008, a position he still holds. (He has since gone on to win a Grammy and a seat on the National Council on the Arts, which advises the NEA.) Founder and artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), he serves as cultural ambassador for his city and proud papa of Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, a club on Bourbon Street.

On Friday, both artists will perform with Mayfield's rhythm section—Ronald Markham on piano, Neal Caine on bass, Jaz Sawyer on drums—and the Minnesota Orchestra led by Sarah Hicks.

The first part of the concert will feature Mayfield playing a program of holiday faves including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” He may be joined by a special guest. I can't get more specific than that, but (big hint) who else is in town this week playing at Orchestra Hall?

Following the intermission, Bridgewater will sing "The Christmas Song" and other classics, plus jazz and pop standards including “The Way We Were” and Ellington’s “Mood Indigo.” It's likely that Mayfield will be at her side for at least part of her set.

The final concert is still in the works. I spoke with Lilly Schwartz, the Orchestra's Director of Pops and Special Projects, on Thursday morning, and she put it this way: "It's jazz, It's always improvised. You go in with a plan and it creates itself. The concert itself becomes a jazz song."

8 p.m. Friday, Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis ($22–$50, $60 VIP). Tickets online or call 612-371-5656.

Friday-Saturday, Dec. 17–18: Red Planet at the Artists’ Quarter

If memory serves and my notebooks don’t lie, I last saw Red Planet—the trio of Dean Magraw on electric guitar, Chris Bates on bass, and Jay Epstein on drums—in February 2009. Not long after, Magraw dropped out of sight to battle a life-threatening disease.

Red Planet's latest CD

He’s back with a new immune system and two new CDs, the just-released How the Light Gets In with tabla player Marcus Wise (Red House, 2010) and last year’s Space Dust with Red Planet (GoneJazz, 2009), which I’m counting as new because it came out during Magraw’s absence and hasn’t yet gotten the celebration it deserves. Featuring original compositions by Magraw and Bates and “deep-space tributes” to Coltrane (“Africa”), Hendrix (“Little Wing”), and Solomon Linda (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”), it’s part poetry, part rock-and-roll, part flamethrower.

I saw Magraw play at Café Maude a couple of weeks ago and he looks and sounds great.

9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Artists’ Quarter,  in the basement of the Hamm Building in St. Paul ($10). Tickets at the door.

Saturday, Dec. 18: Zacc Harris, Adam Linz, and Babatunde Lea at Café Maude

Jazz guitarist Zacc Harris and bassist Adam Linz are familiar faces around town, but Babatunde Lea? The Afro-Cuban jazz/world beat drummer/percussionist who has played with Pharoah Sanders, Stan Getz, McCoy Tyner, Steve Turre, Ernie Watts, and Van Morrison, to name just a few?* What brings him to Maude in south Minneapolis? I called Harris to find out.

Lea from the cover of his "Soul Pools" CD

“I was doing a restaurant gig in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and during our last set a drummer asked if he could sit in,” Harris said. “We were like, all right, sure, and he came up and swung like crazy. Turns out he’s moving to western Wisconsin. We exchanged information, and later I went and checked out his website. He’s a heavy, but I knew that from playing with him. Since then, I’ve called him a couple of times to see when he would be in town. This gig [at Maude] was around the holidays, so I thought there was a good chance he’d be around.”

How would Harris describe Lea’s style? “Hard swinging, with a hard bop vibe going on, and a lot of world influences.”

The plan: Meet at Maude (with no rehearsal ahead of time), introduce Lea to Linz (the two have never played together before), play some standards, see what happens. Given the musicians, it’s bound to be good, it has the potential to be really good, and it’s definitely going to be as new as it gets. 

* Lea is not a household name; he's mostly known around the Bay area, where he spent several years. I happen to have heard him because someone gave me his Soul Pools CD a few years back, and I learned more about him then.  So there's no implication here that Zacc Harris doesn't know his drummers.

9 p.m. Saturday, Café Maude, 5411 Penn Ave. S., Minneapolis. No cover, but reservations are recommended: 612-822-5411.

Jazz concert review: "Blue" makes Capri crowds happy

When: Saturday, Oct. 9, and Sunday, Oct. 10 • Where: Capri Theater • Who: Katie Gearty, Nancy Harms, and Rachel Holder, vocals; Phil Aaron (piano),  Graydon Peterson (bass), Jay Epstein (drums); directed by Arne Fogel

Build a jazz concert on the topic of blue—color, mood, feeling—and audiences will come. Reprising a program originally conceived for the Twin Cities Jazz Society and performed in April of this year, Blue: Songs on the Indigo Side so impressed Capri Theater director Karl Reichert that he brought it back to launch the theater's annual Legends series. Both the Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon shows drew large and enthusiastic crowds. HH and I were there on Sunday.

After a relaxed and swinging opener by the trio (Miles Davis's "Nardis," renamed "Blue Nardis" for the show), the three featured vocalists—Katie Gearty, Nancy Harms, and Rachel Holder—joined in singing Miles Davis's "All Blues," with lyrics by Oscar Brown Junior. The three different voices blended beautifully in a song that also ended the program, a pair of blue bookends.

In between, with the exception of "Blue Moon" and a medley, all of the songs were solo performances. Highlights:

• Nancy's "Mood Indigo," arranged by pianist Bryan Nichols in 11/4 (if I remember correctly), a slyer, sexier version of Ellington's original 4/4 rhythm and one that leaves me a bit breathless. She performed an earlier version, even more mathy, at an Artists' Quarter show in August. Hearing Nancy sing almost any song makes you want to listen very closely, as if it's brand-new. Her sense of timing is such that each beat seems like a limitless expanse. Sometimes she sings the actual notes of a melody, sometimes she sings her own notes, but the melody is still present. Yet her singing never seems showy, artificial, or forced. You hear her and think, "Of course—that's how a particular song should have been sung all along." Except nobody else could sing it that way.  Visit her website and check out "Blackbird."

• Rachel's take on Toots Thieleman's lilting "Bluesette," with updated "girl power" lyrics by Rhiannon.

• Nancy's "Blue Monk," for which she sang her own newly-written lyrics ("Spinning around/Dreaming in blue/All the stars are dancing two by two... Thelonious Sphere/Floating in a world of blue/Lovely shades and hues of blue").

• Katie's "Blues on a Holiday," with lyrics by Susan Tedeschi. I've heard Katie sing before, but in small bits--a song here and there, or as one of Bruce Henry's group of singers. I like her bluesy attitude, the way she forms words and sings them with conviction, and the rich, resonant quality of her voice. I'll have to watch for her and catch her again soon, perhaps with Vital Organ.

• "Blue Moon," sung by all three with "mystery voice" Arne Fogel in the background. After a straight-ahead start, they swung into the Marcels' doo-wop version (bomp-bomp-ba-domp-a-dang-a-dang-dang). A fun, lighthearted moment in the program.

The last part was a medley and I'm not a fan of medleys. Actually, I resent them. You're just getting into a song (in this case, "Blue Bayou" or "Blueberry Hill") when it's yanked away, replaced by another, and the transition is rarely very interesting.

Throughout the show, I thought there was a bit too much talking. I appreciate it when vocalists (and instrumentalists) tell us what they're about to perform, and maybe something about a particular tune--the composer, the context, the significance. Fogel is a music historian and he's known for doing that in his live performances and on his radio shows. (You can hear his current program "The Bing Shift" every Saturday from 7–8pm on KBEM.) I don't want to discourage anyone from providing some background, but sometimes less is more and not everything needs an introduction.

Ode to Maude

Cafe Maude is rather odd.

It's a hot spot in a sleepy southwest Minneapolis neighborhood that, before Maude opened, had never seen so much nighttime activity or so many parked cars, something that drives the adjacent hardware store crazy.

It's a restaurant where a grilled flat bread is a meal (try the smoked chicken), a hamburger is heaven, and a sister special-events venue across the street, the Armatage Room, serves prix-fixe dinners based on themes: Istanbul, Argentina, period Italian films.

On the weekends, it's a mostly-jazz music club that books some of the best musicians in the Twin Cities, but almost no one comes to listen. For the vast majority of people standing two or three deep around the bar and chattering in the booths and at the tables, the music is aural wallpaper.

And yet, how I love Maude. I make sure to know who's playing there, and I often end up going, usually a bit later into the evening, when some of the clamoring crowd has cleared.

A quick list of just some of the people/groups who have appeared on the small stage in recent months: Chris Thomson, Adam Linz, Dave King, James Buckley, Bryan Nichols, Jay Epstein, Anthony Cox, JT Bates, Chris Bates, Alden Ikeda, Michael Lewis, Patrick Harison, Fat Kid Wednesdays, Enormous Quartet, Martin Dosh, Dean Granros, Milo Fine, Davu Seru, the Pines, Brad Bellows, Peter Schimke, Park Evans, Volcano Insurance, Joey Van Phillips, Tim Glenn, Sean Carey, Paul Metzger.

Last night it was a group billed as the Peter Schimke Collaboration. Led by pianist, composer, and sometime singer Schimke, it included Dean Granros on electric guitar, James Buckley on acoustic bass, and Jay Epstein on drums. Accordionist Patrick Harison stopped by after an earlier gig at a church and sat in for a couple of tunes.

We had requested a table near the music and got one. Don Berryman of Jazz Police joined us, having come over from the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul, where Astral Project was playing a second night. (HH and I came from the Bloomington Center for the Arts and a Johnny Mercer tribute show; more about Astral Project and Mercer later.) We heard the whole second set. When it was over, I was completely satisfied. I would not have changed a single thing or asked for one thing more.

Here's the setlist (thanks to Jay Epstein for considerable help with this; I usually take notes during live music but this time I was too lazy):

—Monk's "Trinkle Trinkle." This group can really play Monk.
—"The Vow," an original ballad by Schimke. So beautiful.
—Django Reinhardt's "Troublant Bolero." The first piece where Harison joined in. If you think accordion is all oom-pah-pah you are sorely mistaken. When Harison improvises on his button accordion, it's transporting
—"Wrong" by Jerry Bergonzi. Complex and challenging.
—Steely Dan's "Do It Again." Schimke sang ("You go back, Jack, do it again/Wheel turning round and round"), Harison played the squeezebox.
—"Blue Sparrow" by Dean Granros.
—"Ugly Beauty" by Monk.
—Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," their closing number, a joyous, freewheeling, in-the-moment journey through a jazz standard with generous solos by everyone.

What else is there, what else could there be?

Check Maude's calendar to see what's coming up. No cover charge, no reservations needed after 10 pm. Music starts at 9 and goes until midnight, often later, as "Footprints" did last night. The band just kept playing, as if they didn't want to let go of the tune.

The only caveat: You have to be able to stand the crowd noise. If you can't, you'll get cranky and start shooshing people, who will look at you as if you're mad and then ignore you.

If you're not sure, think about this: Month after month, weekend after weekend, exceptional musicians come to Maude to play. There's something about the place. Maybe it's owner Kevin Sheehy's infectious passion and enthusiasm for the arts. (Talk to him about art or travel or a particular musician or food and he's like a pot boiling over.) Or music programmer Ms. Mysterious (she doesn't want her name in print), who knows what she likes and brings it in. Some musicians feel she's too exclusionary; I say keep up the good work, Ms. M. Maybe it's the room; comfy, cozy, well-appointed. And the full bar, and the eclectic menu, and (in clement Minnesota months) the patio. Or maybe it's all of those things. Who knows. I'll be back.

Photo of the boys in the band by Don Berryman, taken after last night's final set. L to R: Schimke, Buckley, Epstein, Granros.

Dan Musselman, pianoman

When Dan Musselman plays piano, he means it. That was my first impression the first time I saw him live, playing an electronic keyboard at the Hat Trick Lounge in St. Paul. At the time, I wished he were playing an acoustic grand; I wanted to hear more piano sound than the amp was delivering.

Musselman is a serious guy—serious about music, focused on building a career. He started playing piano at age 5, took lessons along the way with people like Kenny Werner and Craig Taborn, listened to a lot of Keith Jarrett and Joanne Brackeen, graduated summa cum laude from McNally Smith College of Music in April 2008 with a degree in piano performance (and the school’s Outstanding Student Award), and released his first solo CD that month, Ruminations, a collection of all-original improvisations.

That was gutsy. Most debut recordings include standards and other familiar tunes, known quantities that serve as safe havens while you’re trying to decide if you like what you’re hearing. (“Introducing Brad Mehldau” is more than half standards.) On Ruminations, Musselman tosses you into the briar patch with the first track, “Liberation,” a big, two-handed piece that packs a lot of emotion into just under four minutes. “With this recording, I tried to play emotionally,” Musselman told Andrea Canter last September. Put it on as background music and you’ll soon get pulled into paying attention—to the dark and anxious “Depraved,” the romantic “Respiration,” the exotic “Incantation” (which starts with a hint of “Concierto de Aranjuez”), and the rest of this impressive collection. You can hear his classical training in his touch and phrasing.

Musselman has been playing out a lot around the cities with vocalists and other musicians; he and singer Rachel Holder released their own CD earlier this year, Save Your Love for Me. For more than a year he and a group of other musicians have opened for the Tuesday Night Band at the AQ. Now he’s out with his own quartet, as leader, playing the major clubs in town. On July 30 they performed at the Dakota; tomorrow night, August 12, they’re at the AQ.

We caught only part of the July 30 show because of prior commitments on either side. Enough to hear how the quartet—Musselman on piano, Brandon Wozniak on sax, Adam Linz on bass, Jay Epstein on drums—holds together (as if there was ever any doubt), and also how Musselman sounds on an acoustic grand (much better, thanks). I like all of these musicians very much and enjoyed the music and the vibe. We heard several Musselman originals—“On the Way” (if I got that right), “Crystal Moments,” “Incantation” from the solo CD, a tune called “Maze,” and a lovely version of Mehldau’s “When It Rains.” The quartet was happy and so was the crowd. I’m up for more.

Photos by John Whiting. T to b: Dan Musselman, Brandon Wozniak, Adam Linz, Jay Epstein

Tim Sparks' Setlist at the Dakota

When: Saturday, July 18, 2009 • Where: Dakota • Who: Tim Sparks, guitar; Chris Bates, bass; Jay Epstein, drums

A review of this special Dakota late-night show will follow. For now, this is for Dave Kunath:

“Ariel” by John Zorn (Zorn’s Astaroth: The Book of Angels, Vol. 1; not yet recorded by Sparks?)
“The Rebbe’s Hasid” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“Oh Daddy, That’s Good” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“Little Princess” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“Nifty’s Freylekh” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“A Few Bowls Terkish” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)

(break)

“Mississippi Blues” by Willie Brown (Sidewalk Blues)
“Oriental Blues” by Eubie Blake (Sidewalk Blues), with a little “Moonlight Sonata” thrown in
“The Dearest in Bukovina” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“Der Yid in Jerusalem” by Naftule Brandwein (Little Princess)
“Rigal” by John Zorn (Zorn’s Stolas: The Book of Angels, Vol. 12; not yet recorded by Sparks?)
“I Mean You” by Thelonious Monk (not yet recorded by Sparks?), with a quote from “Over the Rainbow”



Photos by John Whiting.

That Maude thing

So last night, after my son's wedding reception, we stop by Cafe Maude late for a burger and some vitamin M. Fat Kid Wednesdays (Michael Lewis, Adam Linz, JT Bates) were originally slated to play, but we already knew that JT would not be there and Jay Epstein would be (the reason: JT was called to A Prairie Home Companion, where he often plays with the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, something we didn't know until last night). We're more than ready for Lewis's tenor sax and Linz's bass and the always surprising drums of Epstein.

What we get is a quintet, with Bryan Nichols on piano and Greg Lewis on trumpet. Greg is Mike's dad, a musician for more than 30 years, but I have never heard him play, and he rarely plays with Michael.

We arrive in time for Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman," during which the famously chatty crowd at Maude actually quiets down to listen. Also in the house: saxophonists Scott Fultz and Chris Thomson, trumpeter John Raymond, bassists Matt Peterson and Graydon Peterson. Michael's mom, Mary, is there, too--I don't think I've ever heard Michael play in any of his many bands without seeing her in the audience, which says a lot for both of them. Later we talk and she recalls the days when Michael was a boy and he and his father would listen to music and play for hours.

On the way out, we pass Michael and Greg chatting on the patio. "I love you, Dad," Michael says. "Let's do this again."

CounterClockWise

When: Saturday, August 23, 2008 • Where: Dakota • Who: Tanner Taylor, Hammond B-3; Jay Epstein, percussion; Zacc Harris, guitar



I'm sorry to miss this late-night show because I've never heard Tanner play the B-3 except on the the trio's MySpace page. HH went and had a good time. The two newest tunes on MySpace ("Gibraltar," "Witch Hunt") were recorded there and then.


Photos by John Whiting.

Connie Evingson at the Bloomington Jazz Festival

When: Sunday, August 10, 2008 • Where: Bloomington Jazz Festival (Normandale Lake Bandshell) • Who: Connie Evingson, voice; Bryan Nichols, piano; Dave Karr, saxophones, flute, and clarinet; Terry Burns, bass; Jay Epstein, drums

When I previewed this festival for MinnPost, I hoped to attend more than just Connie's set but that's all we could do. It turned out to be a perfect start to the evening: beautiful location, lovely weather, and a fine set from the singer and her band. "Nature Boy," "some Peggy Lee songs ("I Don't Know Enough About You," "Gone Fishin'"), Toots Thieleman's "Bluesette," an arrangement Connie did with Dave Karr blending "I Love Paris in the Springtime" with "It's All Right with Me," selections from her recent CD with Dave Frishberg including "Peel Me a Grape" and "My Attorney Bernie," tunes from her Swedish Hot Club CD, "Comes Love" with Karr on clarinet. Kids were running around and dancing in front of the stage. Some people in the audience were attentive, some not so much. It was Carmen's first jazz festival and she seemed to like it.


Photo of Carmen the wiener dog by Andrea Canter.

Red Planet with Bill Carrothers

When: Friday, August 1, 2008 • Where: Dakota • Who: Dean Magraw, guitar; Chris Bates, bass; Jay Epstein, drums; Bill Carrothers, piano

Warming up for his next European tour, pianist extraordinaire Bill Carrothers is playing three gigs in the Cities this week: at the AQ on Wednesday, at the Dakota on Thursday (a solo show), and again at the Dakota on Friday as part of the late-night series. I’d see all three if I could but we can only make the late-night show.



The longer they play, the happier Magraw becomes. I learn later that this is the first time his trio has played with Carrothers, and Magraw loves every minute. (Toward the end of the evening, he sits behind Carrothers, points at him, looks out at the audience, smiles from ear to ear, and says “Bill Carrothers! That f****** guy!”)

The music is amazing. Playful, creative, tuneful. Blues, standards, Monk’s “Let’s Cool One.” Improvisations during which Epstein plays the edges of his cymbals with knitting needles, or something close to knitting needles. Magraw and Carrothers negotiate with each other about what to play, and no matter what they decide, Bates anchors it and holds it steady.



As the evening progresses—this is after all the late-night show, this is Minneapolis—the audience becomes smaller and more devout. An exquisite solo from Carrothers ends it all. That guy.


Photos by John Whiting.

Red Planet

When: 5/3/08
Where: Artists' Quarter
Who: Dean Magraw (guitar), Chris Bates (bass), Jay Epstein (drums)

We last saw this remarkable trio in December, when it was also (for part of the evening) a quartet, with Gary Schulte on violin. Tonight we skip the second set of the Mike Vax Big Band and arrive at the AQ midway through the first tune, something slow and mellow. For the moment it's just Dean and Chris, then Jay walks quietly on stage, unpacks his sticks and brushes, then begins softly brushing the drums. A lovely start to an evening full of music worth close listening.



They rarely tell us what they're playing; Magraw mugs at the mike but never quite gets around to saying "That was a tune by ____ and here comes a tune by ____." Next time I'll request the set list, if there is one. I know we hear something by Dave Holland, something about a place on the Asian steppes where the wind never stops blowing, a Chris Bates tune, Monk's "Let's Cool One" (which I think is a Django tune because it swings so hard), and the group's signature "Viva Coltrane," a long piece incorporating many of John Coltrane's compositions. Throughout the evening, Magraw is jazz man, folkie, and rock god, wailing away on a guitar so white it's blinding. We stay through both sets.

Back in December, Don Berryman made a video of Red Planet performing Coltrane. Especially if you haven't experienced this group in person (and even if you have), it's worth seeing and hearing.

Late-Night All Stars

When: 3/28/08
Where: Dakota
Who: Kelly Rossum (trumpet), Brandon Wozniak (tenor sax), Tasha Baron (piano), Chris Bates (bass), Jay Epstein (drums)

It’s already a long night: 7 Black Butterflies followed by Prezens at the Walker, then the final set of Irvin Mayfield’s sextet at the Dakota. It’s after midnight and we’re going home. Then Kelly Rossum and Chris Bates walk past the bar. They’re here to play so we stay.



I haven’t seen Wozniak before; he plays around town with Atlantis Quartet and The 3Rio. I learn from his MySpace page that he spent six months working in a jazz club in Shanghai. I like his sound. Tasha Baron is new to me, too; our friends Ben&Amy tell us she’s with Black Blondie. MySpace says she’s also with Hips Don’t Lie and Sferic Witch.



This is the first time these five have played together. Dan Eikmeier, who books the late-night shows, pulled them together and it works. They start with Kenny Garrett’s “Sing a Song of Song,” end with something called (I think) “Play It Twice.” It’s Late Night so there’s a lot of chitchat, even at our table, but I’m glad we stayed.

Christine Rosholt

When: 3/24/08
Where: Dakota
Who: Christine Rosholt (vocals), Dave Karr (saxophone and flute), Vinnie Rose (guitar), Tanner Taylor (piano), Graydon Peterson (bass), Jay Epstein (drums)

Christine has become a regular at the Dakota, I'm happy to say, and she always draws a good crowd. Tonight she premieres several new songs: Jobim's "Waters of March," Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," "Something Cool" by Billy Barnes. We also hear old favorites: "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Blues in the Night," "Savoy."

"Waters of March" is a mouthful with challenging, nonsensical lyrics ("A stick, a stone/It's the end of the road/It's the rest of a stump/It's a little alone.... The plan of the house/The body in bed/And the car that got stuck/It's the mud, it's the mud"). Say what? The only singer I've heard pull it off in live performance without a hitch is Jane Monheit. I credit Christine with taking it on.

Her band, as always, is wonderful. I like the addition of guitarist Rose, a college friend of bassist Peterson. Read what Andrea Canter says about Christine's band.



Photos by John Whiting.

Christine Rosholt

When: 1/31/08
Where: The Dakota
Who: Christine Rosholt (vocals), Dave Karr (saxophone and flute), Tanner Taylor (piano), Graydon Peterson (bass), Jay Epstein (drums)

Christine recorded her next CD over two nights at the Dakota. We were there for the second night, and so were many of Christine's friends and family members, and a table full of people celebrating the birthday of someone named Ginger.

Did Ginger et al. realize a live CD was being recorded? Did they care? Might someone have announced this from the stage at the start and respectfully requested the whole audience hold it down a bit under the circumstances? Might a manager have gone to the table to politely suggest they modulate their voices or at least not shriek with laughter and hiccup loudly?

(deep breath)

Christine sang beautifully, and her band was right there with her. I liked their Latin arrangement of "If I Were a Bell," and their speedy (maybe a little too speedy?) "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," and the lovely "Estate" (where Christine's voice became lower, more resonant and emotional), and the Harold Arlen tunes; someday I hope she will do an all-Arlen CD, because it's clear she loves his music and it's a good fit for her voice. Dave Karr's flute on the "Tea for Two" cha-cha was charming. I enjoyed "Alone Together" arranged for bass, drums, and voice, "One More for the Road" for piano and voice, and their fresh take on "Summertime," one of the world's most recorded songs. Christine looked happy and relaxed. I look forward to the CD.

Read a brief interview with Christine on MinnPost.

Photo of Christine Rosholt and Graydon Peterson by John Whiting.

Bill Carrothers' Armistice Band U.S. Premiere

When: 1/5/08
Where: The Artists' Quarter
Who: Bill Carrothers (piano), Peg Carrothers (voice), Jean-Marc Foltz (clarinets), Matt Turner (cello), Gordy Johnson (bass), Dre Pallemaerts (drums), Jay Epstein (percussion)

After previewing this show for MinnPost and reading Britt Robson's glowing article about in the Strib (which I would gladly link to here, except you'd have to pay to read it after three weeks) and Andrea Canter's piece on Jazz Police, I expected a crowd. In fact, it was SRO at the AQ, something that doesn't happen nearly often enough. Much of the audience was other musicians. Laura Caviani, Pete Whitman, Mary Louise Knutson, Phil Aaron, Chris Lomheim and his wife, Emily, Lucia Newell, James Buckley, Michael Lewis, Chris Olson, Mac Santiago, Miguel Hurtado, and Javier Santiago were all there—and those are just the ones I saw. We tried to imagine who was left to play piano gigs around the Twin Cities that night. Peter Schimke was at the Dakota; he came to the AQ after. Tanner Taylor must have been all over town.

Carrothers' Armistice 1918 suite was even more powerful in person than on the recording. We journeyed through optimism, death, and despair. While I love the more traditional piano-bass-drums trio, the other instruments—Turner's eloquent cello, Foltz's expressive clarinets, Epstein's limitless percussion array (which included a tart pan, beans in a bowl, goats' toenails, what looked like vacuum cleaner hoses, and something he later told me is called a Remo Spring Drum)—added great texture and dimension. And Peg's voice rose pure and clear above the music, even when it was buzzy and dark. Her version of "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" was devastating.

As an encore, they gave us "And the Band Played On" in a spooky David Lynch version. It was perfect, and in response, we gave them a standing ovation. Which was small thanks for a concert so epic and virtuosic and satisfying that it should have commanded and filled a much larger space. I heard the band had approached other venues and been rejected; Armistice 1918 was judged too old-fashioned, too anti-war, irrelevant. I heard the Walker turned them down. I recently read an article about a dance series at the Walker (again in the Strib, sorry, no link) in which performing arts curator Philip Bither said, "We consciously did not want to go back. These are the artists you see in the future." Maybe to Bither, programming Armistice 1918 would have meant "going back," but to those of us who sat still and silent, taking in as much as we could, it was about as modern and immediate and forward-looking as music can be.

Bill Carrothers' Web site is the only place you can buy much of his music including Armistice 1918.

Photos, top to bottom: Carrothers, Foltz, Turner. Photo of Matt Turner by John Whiting.

Red Planet

When: 12/29/07
Where: The Artists' Quarter
Who: Dean Magraw (guitar), Chris Bates (bass), Jay Epstein (drums); second set: Gary Schulte (violin)

Strings and sticks, cymbals, skins, and gongs: no horns, no keys. Magraw, Bates, and Epstein play all over the Twin Cities in all kinds of configurations, but when they come together as Red Planet, it's a unique and wonderful sound. Much of what they play at the AQ is mellow and melodic, with the focus shifting from Magraw's solos to Bates and Epstein and back again, circling the stage. When they play a series of Coltrane tunes back-to-back, the only one I recognize by name is "Revolution." Schulte guests for most of the second set, and it's a glorious concentration of strings. Toward the end of the evening, when many people have already left (it's almost 1 a.m.), I realize the music stopped being about the audience long ago; not that we don't matter (we do) but Magraw, Bates, Epstein and Schulte have gone to that place where music has its own life and purpose in that particular moment, and it's pure creativity. They're four cooks in a kitchen, and we're lucky to be at the table.

Photograph, L to R: Magraw, Bates, Schulte, Epstein.

First must-see of 2008: Bill Carrothers' "Armistice 1918"

Originally published on MinnPost.com on December 21, 2007

Jazz pianist and composer Bill Carrothers has been a history buff since childhood. At age 10, he spent time with a World War I veteran and friend of his grandfather, taking in the old man's stories. As a boy growing up in Excelsior, he was fascinated by World War II. His interest in the Civil War was piqued by the Ken Burns documentary that first aired in 1990, and the fact that his great-grandfather was a lieutenant in Robert E. Lee's Army.

Meanwhile, Carrothers became a musician, taking piano lessons from the family's church organist, studying with Twin Cities legend Bobby Peterson, spending a year in the jazz program at North Texas State, moving to New York to try out the jazz scene there, then returning to the Midwest to settle in Michigan. (Listen to some of his work here.)

Today he makes his home in the Upper Peninsula but plays most of his music in Europe, where he tours frequently. (MinnPost caught up with him while he was in Messina, Italy.) Like many American jazz artists, Carrothers has found European audiences more accepting and supportive.

His early recordings include "The Blues and the Greys" (1993), a collection of Civil War-era songs. "One might think that Civil War music would be a rather abrupt change (from jazz), but it's not," Carrothers explains. "One of the things that makes jazz standards so appealing is their open-endedness and malleability. The same can be said of Civil War music."

Raves from the French

And for World War I music. In June 2003, Carrothers brought a group of musicians to Creation Audio in Minneapolis to record a two-CD set for release on the now-defunct French label Sketch. Supported in part by funding from a war museum in France's Somme region, Armistice 1918 won raves and the 2004 Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros, France's Grammy. Writing for The New York Times, Ben Ratliff called it "an ambitious work of repertory and imagination." Jazz magazines around the world included it in their Top 10 lists.

Armistice 1918 will be performed in the United States for the first time on Friday, Jan. 4 and Saturday, Jan. 5 at the Artists' Quarter. Forgive me; it's not exactly holiday cheer we're spreading here. But MinnPost goes on break the week between Christmas and New Year's, so this is my first chance to alert you to the first must-see jazz event of 2008.

Inspired by the work of Great War poets including Wilfred Owen (killed in action in Belgium at age 25), Armistice 1918 is a two-disc tone poem to World War I, poignant and deeply moving. It begins with the relative innocence of 1914 and songs of a man and woman in love ("Hello Ma Baby," "Cuddle Up a Little Closer"). The sweetness ends with the call to arms, separation ("Say Au Revoir"), and a sense of hope and purpose ("America, I Love You") that turns quickly to foreboding.

Disc 2 takes us to the front with popular tunes ("Roses of Picardy") and haunting, jarring originals and group improvisations ("Trench Raid," "No-Man's Land," "Funk Hole"). We hear death, disillusionment, devastation and despair. The closing track, "Armistice Day," is the sound of distant bells and, finally, silence.

A family affair

The recording features Carrothers on piano and his wife, Peg Carrothers, on voice. She sings on several tracks; her pure, clear soprano floats and soars. Bill calls her "the Angel of the Battlefield," and I couldn't imagine Armistice 1918 without her. Also on the recording: Matt Turner (cello), Drew Gress (double bass), Bill Stewart (drums), Jay Epstein (percussion), and Mark Henderson (bass clarinet).

For the Artists' Quarter engagement, Peg Carrothers, Turner and Epstein will return. Gordy Johnson will play bass, and the other two musicians — Jean-Marc Foltz (bass clarinet), Dre Pallemaerts (drums) — are coming from Europe. They'll record a children's CD with Bill and Peg during their stay in the States.

Plans are to play Armistice 1918 straight through in two sets, just like the CDs. With apologies to Artists' Quarter owner Kenny Horst, who's trying to make a living while keeping covers low, this may not be for you if what you want is a night of jazz as entertainment and background music. But if you're willing to listen quietly and intently — and if, as Carrothers hopes, you "come with an open mind and heart" — you'll experience the musical equivalent of a great war movie: moments of tender nostalgia, horror, irony, loss and regret, exhaustion and grief.

Armistice 1918 is about then, and of course it's about now, as increasing numbers of Americans and people around the world speak out against the war in Iraq. "I think if people studied history a bit more," Carrothers told MinnPost, "we wouldn't be so shocked by the events of today, and might be able to have a bit more perspective about our modern problems."

What: Bill Carrothers' Armistice Band U.S. premiere
Where: The Artists' Quarter, 408 St. Peter St., St. Paul
When: 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, and Saturday, Jan. 5
How much: $15
Phone: 651-292-1359
Website

Upcoming picks

Sisters in Song: A holiday show by three terrific local singers: Vicky Mountain, Dorothy Doring, and Lila Ammons. Proof that you don't have to go downtown for jazz, they will perform at the Dakota County Music Café at the Holiday Inn in Burnsville. Friday, Dec. 21, and Saturday, Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m. No cover.

Frank Morgan Memorial: The great alto saxophonist Frank Morgan died on Friday, Dec. 14, not long after returning home from a European tour. Expect a brief service followed by music from those who knew and loved him. The Artists' Quarter, 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23. No cover, but donations will be accepted.

The Bad Plus: Pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King have made an annual tradition of performing here at Christmas time. Do not expect a holiday show. Then again, you never know what to expect from this iconoclastic trio. The Dakota, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, Dec. 26-29 ($28—$40).