Winter Jazz Fest: Sonny Fortune

When: 3/2/08
Where: MacPhail Center for Music
Who: Sonny Fortune (alto saxophone and flute), Michael Cochrane (piano), Cecil McBee (bass), Steve Johns (drums)

Jazz history came alive in Minneapolis near the river when Sonny Fortune closed the Winter Jazz Fest. Performing in MacPhail’s splendid Antonello Hall, the man who has played with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie (he’s 78 but you wouldn’t know by looking at him) led his quartet in a program of mostly standards: a driving, exciting “Charade,” “Besame Mucho,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and two originals including “Awakening.” He alternated between alto sax and flute, an instrument that sounds wimpy when some people play it, robust and beefy when he does. He blows like he has all the air in the world.

The second set (the one we saw) was completely different from the first, as described the next morning by Dan Emerson in the Pioneer Press. Too bad more people didn’t stay over from the first set; there would have been no repetition (as if there ever is in jazz) and the audience would have numbered more than the 50 I saw. So it was a Sunday night, it was cold, it was dark, and Monday loomed, but Fortune deserved a larger audience.

We gave McBee a ride to the Dakota afterward. What a charming man. He told us he had recently married again, to a German woman whose family had traveled to the US for the big day. We talked about taking happiness when and where we find it and being glad for the chance. McBee was born in 1935, making him 73.

Photos by John Whiting: The man with the horn; Mr. McBee.
Bottom: The quartet.

Winter Jazz Fest: Chris Thomson's Bells + Whistles

When: 3/2/08
Where: MacPhail Center for Music
Who: Chris Thomson (saxophones), Bryan Nichols (piano), Adam Linz (bass), Alden Ikeda (drums)

At 5 p.m. on the day of the Winter Jazz Fest, I left the Dakota Foundation table in good hands and went back up to MacPhail's sixth floor to see Bells + Whistles, one of Chris Thomson's many groups. Knowing who was in it, I expected it to be wild. But every time I see Thomson, he surprises me, and this was no different. Bells + Whistles plays lyrical, dreamy straight-ahead jazz. Beautiful!

Top to bottom: Thomson, Nichols, Linz, Ikeda

Winter Jazz Fest: Snowblind

When: 3/2/08
Where: MacPhail Center for Music
Who: Shilad Sen (tenor saxophone), Adam Rossmiller (trumpet), Scott Agster (trombone), Graydon Peterson (bass), Reid Kennedy (drums)

I previewed the Winter Jazz Fest for MinnPost but didn't see much of it. I spent most of the day at table for the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, conveniently located next to a table for Jazz is NOW! (Hi Jason, hi Meg!) I sneaked away long enough to hear a tune and snap a few pictures of Snowblind, a group I've heard a lot about but hadn't yet seen live. Except for bass and drums, it's all horns. Visit their Web site and hear "Dark Mambo" from their second and latest CD, Taking Shape. Very nice.

Snowblind's set was in a room on the sixth floor of Macphail that holds about 60 people. A great space with clean, clear sound and beautiful light during the day.

Top to bottom: Peterson and Sen; Agster; Rossmiller.

MinnPost: Winter Jazz Fest Preview

Preparing to write about the upcoming Twin Cities Winter Jazz Fest for MinnPost, I thought, "This should be fairly easy. I'll call [executive director and festival poobah] Steve Heckler and get the whole story."

Nice try. Heckler knows the big picture, but Jerry Swanberg is the big-bands guy, Vicky Mountain is organizing the vocalists, Kelly Rossum is wrangling the acts for the youth stages, and Kevin Barnes has the skinny on the food. So I did more calling and emailing and chasing around than I thought. The results: I was able to post more details on the festival than available anywhere else. A minor scoop but it made me happy.

Information about the Youth/Clinic stages arrived after my deadline, so here's what Kelly says:

I don’t have times yet, but… Dakota Combo. Walker West jazz combo. Spring Lake Park High School jazz ensemble. Judson School jazz combo. MacPhail Teaching Artist Greg Keel will also be giving clinics with a couple of the bands.

Photo: Sonny Fortune, the festival headliner.

Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival Web site.