Marquis Hill & Blacktet
June 30 at 7pm
“his music crystallizes the hard-hitting, hard-swinging spirit of Chicago jazz”
– Chicago Tribune
Out of the teeming hotbed that is the Chicago jazz scene comes one of the most exciting young artists to emerge in years. Marquis Hill hones a warm, mellifluous tone on trumpet and flugelhorn with which he unravels sleek melodic passages that are as commanding as they are cogent. As a composer, he builds upon his distinctive sound to craft arresting originals that embrace post-bop, hip-hop, R&B and spoken word.
Buckwheat Zydeco
July 6 at 7pm
July 6 at 9pm
“From beginning to end, Buck throws it down and slams it sideways, delivering the ultimate nonstop party ride…” – OFFBEAT
If you’ve seen a Buckwheat show, you know what to expect: rocking, stomping, good time Creole party music. If you haven’t seen Buckwheat Zydeco live, you’re missing one of the music world’s most exciting and fun performers. Buck’s shows combine soulful original tunes, inspired playing and singing, and the trademark exuberance that’s made him the world’s best-loved zydeco artist, and has earned Buckwheat Zydeco the sobriquet “the world’s greatest party band.”
Marcus Miller
August 8 at 7pm
August 8 at 9pm
“…breathtaking trapeze-artist of the bass guitar… Miller is a sophisticated musical thinker as well as a finger-busting virtuoso and canny entertainer”
– Guardian
As a multi-instrumentalist, Marcus is highly proficient as a keyboardist, clarinetist/bass clarinetist and, primarily, as a world-renowned electric bassist, topping critics’ and readers’ polls for three decades. His résumé as an A-list player brims with over 500 recording credits as a sideman on albums across the spectrum of musical styles: rock (Donald Fagen and Eric Clapton), jazz (George Benson, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Sample, Wayne Shorter and Grover Washington, Jr.), pop (Roberta Flack, Paul Simon and Mariah Carey), R&B (Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan), hip-hop (Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg), blues (Z.Z. Hill), new wave (Billy Idol), smooth jazz (Al Jarreau and Dave Koz) and opera (collaborations with tenor Kenn Hicks and soprano Kathleen Battle).
Estaire Godinez & Friends
August 9 at 7pm
August 10 at 7pm
“… the weather may be chilly in Minnesota, but it doesn’t diminish the capacity of Godinez or her players to raise the jazz temperature to steamy levels.”
– Don Heckman, L.A. Times
Unless you’ve already been lucky enough to hear, the first thing you probably don’t know about Estaire Godinez is that she is – by no stretch of the imagination – an international sensation. A smoldering vocalist and ace percussionist, the Oakland, CA born Mexican American has recorded on more than sixty albums, and has been consistently sought after for her essential performance skills by a number of world renowned artists. From stints with Prince, to Coke Escovedo, to the Brothers Johnson, to George Benson, she has proven herself a stylistic chameleon capable of wearing dozens of musical hats. And they all “look” fantastic on her.