Dakota

Ginger Commodore sings Songs of Love, Unity & Celebration
2025-10-05 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
“Ginger possesses some of the sweetest and most clarion pipes in town.” – City Pages Commodore

A member of the Midwest music scene for many years, Ginger Commodore is a regular visitor to the Dakota stage. Classically trained, gospel-influenced, and jazz-inspired, Ginger’s musical foundation is a true amalgam of musical styles presented with her unique delivery.
Recommended for fans of Lizz Wright, Cassandra Wilson, Anita Baker and Oleta Adams.

Scottie Miller Trio
2025-10-06 19:00 - 21:00
“A deeply soulful musician with a fearless mind and the heart of a hopeless romantic.” – WWOZ, New Orleans

w/Dan Carpel, bass & Greg Schutte, drums
Singer-songwriter-pianist Scottie Miller has toured with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend Bo Diddley. Also, Hal Leonard has published his work, and inducted three times into The Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame. Ruthie Foster and The Blind Boys of Alabama have recorded his songs.
Bluebird Reviews named Miller Artist of the Year in 2023. This was in recognition of his outstanding poetry book and album Carnival Cocoon. He collaborated with Ruthie Foster on her latest album, 2023’s Healing Time. This led to him gracing the red carpet at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where that album garnered a nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. (Scottie contributed to the title track and other songs on the album.) Furthermore, the same album received nominations at the 2024 Blues Music Awards. There, Scottie, Hadden Sayers and Ruthie won the Song of the Year award for “What Kind of Fool.”
Born in Minneapolis, Scottie Miller began piano lessons at age six. This became the start of a long and vibrant career in music and the arts. * At its core, his music is rooted in the vulnerability of the singer-songwriter tradition: raw lyrics, expressive vocals, and melodies that resonate long after the last note. But what sets Scottie apart is the way these intimate songs expand into something cinematic — incorporating string arrangements, ambient atmospheres, acoustic bass, guitar, and dynamic drums, all carefully woven into a cohesive, immersive experience.
From a lifetime spent on the road, on the stage and in the recording studio, his lyrics convey a cathartic approach to writing. “If you can tell me how you do it, maybe I can find a better way to cope.”
Recommended for fans of Mose Allison, Ruthie Foster, Eric Bibb and Dr. John.

Brad Mehldau - Solo
2025-10-07 19:00 - 21:00
“Mehldau is the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years” – The New York Times

One of the most lyrical and intimate voices of contemporary jazz piano, Brad Mehldau has forged a unique path. Here, he embodies the essence of jazz exploration, classical romanticism and pop allure. Mehldau has garnered critical acclaim as a bandleader, and major international exposure in collaborations with Pat Metheny, Renee Fleming, and Joshua Redman. Furthermore, Mehldau continues to garner numerous awards and admiration from both jazz purists and music enthusiasts alike. His forays into melding musical idioms have seen brilliant reworkings of songs by contemporary songwriters. He covers The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, Gershwin and Nick Drake, among others. Also, he has earned recognition for the ever-evolving breadth of his own significant catalogue of original compositions. With his self-proclaimed affection for popular music and classical training, “Mehldau is the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years”. (The New York Times)
Mehldau’s musical personality forms a dichotomy. He is first and foremost an improviser. He cherishes the surprise and wonder occurring from a spontaneous musical idea that is expressed directly, in real time. But he also has a deep fascination for the formal architecture of music, and it informs everything he plays. In his most inspired playing, the actual structure of his musical thought serves as an expressive device. As he plays, he listens to how ideas unwind, and the order in which they reveal themselves. Each tune has a strongly felt narrative arch, whether it expresses itself in a beginning, an end, or something left intentionally open-ended. The two sides of Mehldau’s personality—the improviser and the formalist—play off each other. Thus, the effect is often something like controlled chaos.
Recommended for fans of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Ahmad Jamal.
📸: Yoshika Horita

Christian McBride & Brad Mehldau
2025-10-08 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-08 21:00 - 23:00
“[Mehldau is] one of our greatest living pianists” – NPR
“[McBride plays] fast-and-loose percussive subtlety and soul for days.” – Downbeat

Two of the most respected artists in contemporary jazz join forces in this duo. Brad Mehldau is hailed as “one of modern jazz’s most innovative musicians” by Glide Magazine. Christian McBride says, “Brad is justifiably revered as one of the greatest pianists of all time. I’m very proud to have been friends and cohorts with him for almost 35 years. He was one of the first people I met when I moved to NYC in 1989, and it continues to be an uplifting experience every time we play together.”
Named “one of our greatest living pianists” by NPR, Brad Mehldau says, “It is a dream come true to play with Christian in this duo setting. Playing with Christian, especially in this configuration, is both joyful and daunting all at once. His level of sophistication and swing, of emotional power and grace, is unsurpassed – not in the least on what he has achieved on his instrument, but also as one of our strongest voices in the music more generally, at the top of his game. I’m so honored to be on stage with him.”
This long-term friendship and musical camaraderie has led to various collaborations through the years. These include albums MoodSwing (1994), RoundAgain (2020), and LongGone (2023) with Joshua Redman and Brian Blade. Also, trio tour dates with drummer Marcus Gilmore. Further, a recent duo performance at the Big Ears Festival that had the crowd utterly captivated.
Recommended for fans of Joshua Redman, Keith Jarrett, The Bad Plus and John Scofield.

Terence Blanchard
2025-10-09 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-09 21:00 - 23:00
“Blanchard’s body of work is one of the broadest and most imposing of any living jazz musician.” — New York Times

Eight Grammy Awards
Two Emmy Nominations
Two Oscar Nominations
2024 NEA Jazz Master
Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies – past and present. A true Renaissance man, Blanchard stands tall as one of jazz’s most-esteemed trumpeters. Moreover, he defies expectations by creating a spectrum of artistic pursuits. Boundary-breaking and genre-defying, Blanchard is recognized globally as a dazzling soloist and a prolific composer. Additionally, he has written for film, television, opera, Broadway, orchestras and for his own ensembles. In fact, leading theater magazine TheaterMania recently cited Blanchard as “the most exciting American composer working in opera today.”
Blanchard is an eight-time Grammy winner and twice Oscar-nominated film composer. In 2022, he became only the second African American composer to be nominated twice for an Oscar in the original score category. There, he duplicated Quincy Jones’ feat from 1967’s In Cold Blood and 1985’s The Color Purple. Blanchard’s work has placed him at the forefront of giving voice to human rights, civil rights, and racial injustice. Further, this includes the 2015 album Breathless, an elegy for Eric Garner, who was killed by police. Garner’s words, “I can’t breathe,” became a civil rights rallying cry.
Blanchard is also heralded as a two-time opera composer. His Fire Shut Up in My Bones premiered at the Metropolitan Opera to open their 2021-22 season. Here, it became the first opera by an African American composer to premiere at the Met in its 138-year history. The recording of those performances received a Grammy award for Best Opera Recording. Furthermore, The New York Times heralded Fire as “inspiring,” “subtly powerful” and “a bold affecting adaptation of Charles Blow’s work.”
Recommended for fans of Wynton Marsalis, Art Blakey, Joshua Redman and Esperanza Spalding.
📸: Cedric Angeles

Moore By Four
2025-10-13 19:00 - 21:00
“Their high-energy stage presence, distinctive voices, close harmonies makes Moore By Four a must-see-and-hear.” – MinnPost

Feat. Sanford Moore, Ginger Commodore, Connie Evingson, Dennis Spears, and Ashley Commodore
Moore By Four quickly established themselves as a fixture on the Twin Cities music scene upon their 1986 inception. There, they started out at Ruby’s Cabaret in Minneapolis. The group performed sold-out concerts at the Guthrie and Fitzgerald Theaters and went on to tour Europe and Japan. Then, they shared concert billing with Harry Connick, Jr., Joe Williams, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan and Dizzy Gillespie. Further, they performed at concert halls and jazz festivals around the world. They’ve sung for the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Super Bowl, the Minnesota Twins, Vikings and Timberwolves. Also, former President and Mrs. Clinton, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev, Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, the King and Queen of Sweden. Additionally, they’ve played countless special events, benefits, corporate functions, colleges and universities, concert halls and festivals in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
The harmonies put forth by the four vocalists immediately invoke thoughts of Manhattan Transfer. They do this with their precise vocal control and polish, pulsating rhythms and innovative arrangements. However, the individuals’ grounding in gospel, jazz, pop and theater provides a far broader range to the group’s musical offerings.
The group’s repertoire, arranged by Director Sanford Moore, originally specialized in music from the swing era. Moreover, it has broadened to also include contemporary jazz, original compositions and new arrangements of great standards. They pull tunes from Broadway, Hollywood and the Cotton Club period. Then, they perform these songs in what has become known as the signature style of Moore By Four.
Recommended for fans of Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, The Four Freshmen and Take 6.

Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Organ Trio
2025-10-14 19:00 - 21:00
“the best organ trio of the last decade.” – New York Times

New York Times described Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart as “the best organ trio of the last decade.” The trio, which has played together for over thirty years, is recognized for charting new ground. Here, they do this through synergistic playing and thoughtful music. Moreover, they display their distinctive sound on over a dozen recordings. Additionally, they sound at home whether exploring the depths of jazz standards or playing their own original compositions.
Of 2018’s Toy Tunes, Downbeat said, “The whole album subtly subverts organ-trio cliches, offering not chicken-shack party stomps but instead some hip after-hours atmospherics”.
Larry Goldings is hailed worldwide for his signature Hammond organ style and versatility on many keyboards. Moreover, he has traversed not only the wide spectrum of jazz where he is perhaps best known, but also the worlds of funk, pop, and electronic music. For example, Goldings has worked closely with John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Jim Hall, Maceo Parker, and Madeleine Peyroux. Also, Pat Metheny, James Taylor, and John Mayer. Jazz guitarist
Peter Bernstein has been a part of the jazz scene in New York and abroad since 1989. There, he contributed to over 200 recordings. As a leader, Peter released twelve albums and a DVD. Further, Bernstein was discovered by alto saxophone legend Lou Donaldson and was a crucial part of his final great band.
Drummer/composer Bill Stewart made his name as the rhythmic force behind guitarist John Scofield. Now, he is one of the most sought-after jazz drummers in the world. Also, Stewart has toured extensively with Pat Metheny, Maceo Parker, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Charlie Haden, Joe Henderson and more.
Recommended for fans of John Scofield, Joey DeFrancesco, Eric Harland and Pat Metheny.

Andrew Walesch & His Orchestra
2025-10-17 19:00 - 21:00
“fresh and classic at the same time” – Jon Bream, Star Tribune

Singer/pianist Andrew Walesch encapsulates the sophistication of a cosmopolite and the self-effacing charm of a country boy, like many before him. Leading his all-star big band, showman Walesch kidnaps the Blue Eyes tradition and makes it his own. With this ten-piece band, Walesch embodies both a traditionalist and an iconoclast with his jazz-bent Sinatra revue.
Walesch is busy and versatile. Here, he composes and arranges, appearing in settings ranging from solo artist to big band. Moreover, this St. Cloud native is as respectful of his predecessors as he is ready to chart a new course. Andrew routinely jams venues all over the Midwest and beyond with a uniquely cross-generational audience. Walesch’s fans include jazz enthusiasts of a certain age, as well as a younger crowd compelled by his down-home insouciance. Also, all are drawn in by the knowing irreverence of a tried-and-true American nightclub entertainer.
“Although they are my idols, I don’t attempt to imitate the great pop and jazz artists of the 50s and ’60s,” says Andrew, “but I go for broke when we do our shows – vocally and musically – which is what they all did best and why they were in a class of their own.”
He possesses fine vocal and piano chops, along with a keen sensibility to find and interpret a great lyric. These have led to some great opportunities for Walesch. He has appeared on the nationally syndicated NPR broadcast Mountain Stage. Additionally, he performed at the 33rd Annual Cabaret Convention at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Walesch resides in Phoenix, AZ, where he has been elected as the new Artistic Director for the world-famous Musical Instrument Museum.
Recommended for fans of Michael Bublé, Harry Connick Jr., Kurt Elling and Diana Krall.

Kenny Garrett
2025-10-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-18 21:00 - 23:00
“genre-blurring, spiritually deep sounds” – Glide Magazine

Kenny Garrett’s latest release, 2021’s Sounds from the Ancestors, is a multi-faceted album. The music, however, doesn’t lodge inside the tight confines of the jazz idiom. Here, this is not surprising: the alto saxophonist and composer acknowledges Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye as significant touchstones. Miles Davis’ seminal LP, On the Corner, subverted its main guiding lights – James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. Then, Davis crafted his own unique, polyrhythmic, groove-laden, improv-heavy universe. Thus, Sounds from the Ancestors occupies its own space with intellectual clarity, sonic ingenuity and emotional heft.
“The concept initially was about trying to get some of the musical sounds that I remembered as a kid growing up. Sounds that lift your spirit, like John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”, Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace”, Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. And the spiritual side of the church,” Garrett explains. “When I started to think about them, I realized it was the spirit from my ancestors.”
Indeed, Sounds from the Ancestors reflects the rich jazz, R&B, and gospel history of his hometown of Detroit. More important though, it also reverberates with a modern cosmopolitan vibrancy. Notably the inclusion of music coming out of France, Cuba, Nigeria, and Guadeloupe.
Garrett is easily recognized as one of modern jazz’s brightest and most influential living masters. His illustrious career includes hallmark stints with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd, and Freddie Hubbard. Also, Woody Shaw, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Moreover, he has enjoyed a heralded career as a solo artist that began more than thirty years ago. And with the marvelous Sounds from the Ancestors, the Grammy-winning Garrett shows no signs of resting on his laurels.
Recommended for fans of Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, Branford Marsalis and Miguel Zenón.

Davina and The Vagabonds
2025-10-19 19:00 - 21:00
“Davina and the Vagabonds combat heartache with sugar and sass.” – Downbeat

Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national music scene. Their high-energy live shows feature level-A musicianship, sharp-dressed professionalism and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. Also, their influences range from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits. Moreover, the band is converting audiences one show at a time, from Vancouver to Miami and across Europe.
Much like the music, the story spurns era, expectation and classification. The often unbelievable, sometimes harrowing, and wholly inspiring journey of Davina Sowers gave birth to her eponymous band in 2004. As the tale goes, she grew up in the economically depressed Allegheny town of Altoona, PA. She now describes the town as “awesome in the industrial era, but horrible for high school.” Then, she was adopted by her stepfather when he was in his 80s; he passed when she was just 13. Through him and his Edison phonograph, she first heard the music that would start her journey. For example, The Ink Spots, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and many others. “Great man. He was my angel and still is,” she says.
On her own, she vividly recalls hours in front of the record player at home. There, she religiously spun Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Simon and Garfunkel records belonging to her folk singer mom.
To this day, Davina still refers to music as “my first and eternal love.” Despite early dalliances with classical piano and guitar, she developed a heavy drug habit in high school. Further, this morphed into heroin dependency, left her homeless, sent her in and out of jail and brought on all manner of trouble. Kicking dope on the streets, she “got clean, started the band and worked [her] ass off every day since.”
Recommended for fans of Pokey LaFarge, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Hot Sardines and Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Pat Donohue & Prairie All-Stars
2025-10-21 19:00 - 21:00
“one of the greatest fingerpickers in the world.” – Chet Atkins

From swing to jazz to bottleneck blues to folk, Grammy-winning acoustic guitarist Pat Donohue plays it all. He does this with a flourish of artistry and melodic inspiration. Chet Atkins called Pat one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today; Leo Kottke called his playing “haunting.”
Pat is certainly one of the most listened-to finger pickers in the world. He was the guitarist for the Guys All-Star Shoe Band of Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. There, Pat got to show off his savvy licks and distinctive original songs to millions of listeners each week.
His decade-long association with Prairie Home Companion led to some unusual gigs. There was the after-show club date in Berlin when Wynton Marsalis showed up to sit in with Pat and the Prairie Home band. Or playing music on camera for the Prairie Home Companion movie with director Robert Altman and stars Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson and Tommy Lee Jones. Additionally, Pat plays nationwide and teaches at such popular music camps as Augusta Heritage Center and Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp.
Pat’s musical tastes are eclectic. Though he considers himself foremost a folk guitarist, Pat’s influences are rooted in bluesmen Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and Miles Davis. He manages to blend jazz and blues with folk, and the mix is seamless.
Honors include a 2005 Grammy for his participation on Pink Guitar, a compilation of Henry Mancini tunes on acoustic guitar. Also, several Minnesota Music Awards, and the title of 1983 National Finger Picking Guitar Champion. His original tunes have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss and Kenny Rogers.
Recommended for fans of Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, Michael Johnson and A Prairie Home Companion.

An Evening with Herbie Hancock
2025-10-22 19:00 - 21:00
“Herbie Hancock stands as our greatest living jazz artist.” – Washington Post

Herbie Hancock – Keys
Terence Blanchard – Trumpet
James Genus – Bass
Lionel Loueke – Guitar & vocals
Jaylen Petinaud – Drums

Now in the seventh decade of his professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: at the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Herbie Hancock has been an integral part of every popular music movement since the 1960s. As a member of the Miles Davis Quintet that pioneered a groundbreaking sound in jazz, he also developed new approaches on his own recordings, followed by his work in the 70s — with record-breaking albums such as Headhunters — that combined electric jazz with funk and rock in an innovative style that continues to influence contemporary music. Rockit and Future Shock marked Hancock’s foray into electronic dance sounds; during the same period, he also continued to work in an acoustic setting with V.S.O.P.
Hancock received an Academy Award for his Round Midnight film score and 14 Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year for River: The Joni Letters, and two 2011 Grammy Awards for the globally collaborative album The Imagine Project.
Hancock serves as Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and as Institute Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. In 2011 Hancock was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and in December of 2013, received a Kennedy Center Honor. His memoirs, Herbie Hancock: Possibilities, were published by Viking in 2014, and in February 2016 he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Hancock is currently in the studio at work on a new album.
Recommended for Fans of Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis.
📸: Danny Clinch

Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap
2025-10-22 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-22 21:00 - 23:00
“[Bridgewater] has a technique and musicality that bests most performers of her generation.” – Guardian

“Charlap is masterful… rollicking stride piano, bebop virtuosity and harmonically opulent modernism.” – New York Times

Effortless. Spontaneous. Inimitable. The convergence of two of jazz’s most legendary forces of nature.
Moreover, their virtuosic interpretations traverse the musical spectrum. For example, they draw on the canons of luminary composers: Ellington, Porter, Sondheim, LeGrand, Simon, and others. Here, they range from intimate ballads to soulful grooves, delivered with daring expression born of their musical chemistry.
Each performance is a sublime tour-de-force.
2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater is a restless explorer. Moreover, she has collaborated with master musicians of Mali, interpreted the cabaret of Kurt Weill and embraced the hard bop of Horace Silver. Here, she is joined by Grammy-winning pianist Bill Charlap for these intimate duo performances featuring jazz classics and songbook standards.
Dee Dee Bridgewater first gained recognition in the early 1970s with the great Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Since then, she has thrived wherever she’s landed. On Broadway, she earned a Tony Award for her work in the original production of The Wiz. Then in Paris, she spent more than a decade as France’s greatest champion of jazz.
Pianist Bill Charlap is a consummate soloist and bandleader. Additionally, he is known for work with Tony Bennett, Phil Woods, Barbra Streisand, and his own superb trio. Further, Charlap is one of the most respected keyboardists in jazz and leader of one of its great piano trios. His newest release, Street of Dreams, was released in 2021.
Recommended for fans of Dianne Reeves, Bill Evans, Cassandra Wilson and Benny Green.

Chris Botti
2025-10-23 18:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-23 21:00 - 23:00, 2025-10-24 18:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-24 21:00 - 23:00, 2025-10-25 18:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-25 21:00 - 23:00
“A jazz-pop powerhouse” – The New York Times

Chris Botti – Trumpet
Lee Pearson – Drums
Daniel Chmielinski – Bass
Anastasiia Mazurok – Violin
John Splithoff – Vocals
Julian Pollack – Piano
Veronica Swift – Vocals
With a solo career spanning two decades, Chris Botti is the highest-selling instrumental artist in the United States. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music. Additionally, his ongoing association with PBS has led to four Number One jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum and Grammy Awards.
He performs worldwide and sells millions of albums. Further, his form of creative expression is rooted in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any single genre. Over the past three decades, Botti has recorded and performed with the best in music. He’s worked with Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Bublé and Paul Simon. Also, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and even Frank Sinatra.
Furthermore, his touring schedule is ambitious, often on the road for as many as 300 days per year. The trumpeter has also performed with many of the finest symphonies and at some of the world’s most prestigious venues. Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House and the Real Teatro di San Carlo in Italy. His live performances are inspiring and moving.
However, his recorded output has firmly established him as a clarion voice in the American contemporary music scene. Moreover, his recordings highlight his uniquely expressive sound and soaring musical imagination.
Botti also showcases his softer side, in a warm, intimate celebration of melodic balladry. The Chris Botti experience can be felt on recordings, in concert with his band, or with a symphony orchestra. Botti has thoroughly established himself as one of the important, innovative figures of the contemporary music world.
Recommended for fans of David Sanborn, Kenny G, Rick Braun and Boney James.

Brandee Younger Trio
2025-10-27 19:00 - 21:00
“modern harp traditions… with such strength, grace and commitment” – New York Times

Brandee Younger is revolutionizing the harp’s role in modern music. She has worked relentlessly over the past fifteen years to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. In 2022, she made history. Then, she became the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. That same year, she also earned an NAACP Image Award nomination. Later, she won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album for her latest, Brand New Life. Also ever-expanding as an artist, she has worked with Common, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Pharoah Sanders and Christian McBride.
Her original composition “Hortense” was featured in the Netflix concert-documentary, Beyoncé: Homecoming. Also, Brandee performed her original music for Quincy Jones and Steve McQueens’ “Soundtrack of America”. Here, Brandee stands on the shoulders of the very women who ushered in the harp as a clear and distinct voice in jazz & popular styles. These include Detroit natives Dorothy Ashby & Alice Coltrane.
Her latest album, Brand New Life, builds on her already rich oeuvre, and cements the harp’s place in popular culture. As the title of the album suggests, Brand New Life is about forging new paths–artistic, personal, political, and spiritual. Younger imbues her music with a sense of purpose and respect of legacy. There, she creates a larger platform for the harp to reach newer and wider audiences than ever before. Additionally, Younger serves on the faculty at New York University, Steinhardt School and The New School College of Performing Arts.
Recommended for fans of Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Gregoire Maret and Ravi Coltrane.
📸: Erin O’Brien

Adi Yeshaya Jazz Orchestra feat. Jennifer Grimm
2025-10-29 19:00 - 21:00
“wonderful arrangements” – Aretha Franklin

When the artistry of vocalist Jennifer Grimm met the mastery of composer-arranger Adi Yeshaya, a new sound was born. Don’t miss this thirteen-piece jazz orchestra in a night of compositions and new arrangements of jazz and pop favorites.
Composer, arranger and jazz pianist Adi Yeshaya was born and raised in Israel. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Adi has been active as a musician and educator for nearly four decades. He has arranged and orchestrated shows for many artists. These include Prince, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne and Burt Bacharach. Also, Adi has arranged for the Swiss Jazzaar Jazz Festival and NBC’s The Voice. As a resident of the Twin Cities, he served as a pianist and musical director for Debbie Duncan for nearly three decades until her passing. Moreover, he has performed and arranged for the Minnesota Orchestra with conductors Sarah Hicks and Doc Severinsen. Further, he’s worked with countless singers and ensembles like Bruce Henry, Cookie Coleman, the Guthrie Theater and Jack McDuff. Also, he plays with JazzMN Orchestra and of course his own Big Band. Adi is an active educator, as well. To that end, he has taught at the University of Minnesota, McNally Smith College of Music and Berklee College of Music.
Jennifer Grimm was born into one of America’s last-standing traveling vaudeville families. She continues to choose music and entertainment as her profession. Moreover, she regularly appears in concert halls, theaters, jazz clubs, and performing arts centers nationwide.
Jennifer has landed many TV spots for her original music: whether singing, songwriting or producing. Additionally, she works in the voiceover industry and has been the voice of many national companies and numerous audiobooks.
Recommended for fans of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thad Jones and Maria Schneider.

Kenni Holmen
2025-11-03 19:00 - 21:00
“Kenni Holmen is a musical freak of nature” –Vulfpeck

Kenni Holmen is one of the most active recording and touring musicians from the Twin Cities area. He performed and recorded with many local, national and international artists over his thirty-year career.

Kenni has performed with Prince, Cory Wong, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, T.C. Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie. Also, Donny Osmond, The Rev. Billy Graham Crusade, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, and Garrison Keillor. Additionally, The Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, just to name a few. Kenni has recorded with Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, Prince, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Ben Sidran, Babyface, Mandy Moore, and more.

Holmen remains busy recording album projects and jingles. Also, he writes, co-produces and performs with New Age artist Lorie Line, a role he has held since 1993. This includes a performance at The White House in the fall of 2000. Twin Cities Reader magazine voted Kenni Best Tenor Sax Player. Moreover, Kenni is also featured with Prince’s long-running horn section, The HornHeads. With them, he has toured throughout the United States and Europe since 1992.
Recommended for fans of Dave Koz, Cory Wong, The Hornheads and Prince.

L.A. Buckner & BiG HOMiE
2025-11-08 19:00 - 21:00
“brassy, smooth, and syncopated with perfect finesse.” – Mpls.St.Paul

Arthur “L.A.” Buckner is one of the Twin Cities’ most creative drummers. He also took iTunes by storm with the release of his project BiG HOMiE. Here, his August 2020 release reached Number One on the iTunes jazz charts within twenty-four hours.
Buckner’s music is a fusion of his influences: Gospel, R&B, hip hop, African rhythms, and jazz. Then, on BiG HOMiE his music explodes in a fiery journey of syncopation and truth. He has earned the respect of the most trained musical ear to the everyday music lover that appreciates a good “bop.” Here, Buckner serves as executive producer, collaborating with some of the finest musicians in Minnesota. Also, the album included a feature by Mint Condition’s Stokely Williams. Further, the original single “Ooowee” solidifies L.A. as a writer/producer to be reckoned with. Additionally, the album includes a creative rendition of “Deja Vu” and a jolting take on “Human Nature”.
BiG HOMiE is a dynamic and electrifying band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band leader is Arthur “L.A.” Buckner on drums; Jamani Buckner, percussion; David Feily, guitar; David Smith, keyboards; Jovon Williams, woodwinds; and Ethan Yeshaya, bass. Together, they create a powerful fusion of musical styles, incorporating elements of funk, rock, hip-hop, Gospel and jazz. With captivating performances and catchy melodies, BiG HOMiE has been winning over audiences and gaining recognition for their spiritual sound.
Recommended for fans of Robert Glasper, Snarky Puppy, Nate Smith and Butcher Brown.

Joshua Redman Quartet
2025-11-09 17:30 - 20:00, 2025-11-09 20:00 - 22:00
“a swinging, expressive improviser… masterpiece” – All Music

Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists working today. Joshua was born in Berkeley, California, and he is the son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff. He was exposed at an early age to a variety of music (jazz, classical, rock, soul, Indian, Indonesian, Middle-Eastern, African). Also, a wide range of instruments (recorder, piano, guitar, gatham, gamelan). Then, Redman began playing clarinet at age nine before switching to the tenor saxophone one year later.
John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley and his father, Dewey Redman influenced Redman early on. Also, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, The Police and Led Zeppelin drew Joshua more deeply into music. Joshua loved playing saxophone and was a member of the award-winning Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combo from 1983-86. However, he always put academics first, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician.
In 1991 Redman graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude, with a B.A. in Social Studies. He had already been accepted by Yale Law School, but deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year. Then, Redman won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, propelling him to near-certain stardom.
Over the past three decades, the saxophonist, composer, and bandleader has consistently demonstrated how to honor music’s verities while expanding its reach in contemporary settings. Redman’s latest, 2025’s Words Fall Short, is an organic next step. Thus, inspiring new collaborators bring this new collection of previously unheard originals to life.
Joshua Redman – tenor saxophone
Paul Cornish – piano
Philip Norris – bass
Nazir Ebo – drums
Recommended for fans of Cannonball Adderley, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and Chris Potter.

John Scofield's Combo 73
2025-11-12 19:00 - 21:00
“Scofield is one of the most prolific and admired jazz musicians of his generation” – NPR

Aside from being one of the principal innovators of modern jazz guitar, John Scofield is a rare creative artist. He is a stylistic chameleon who has forged a consistent, rock-solid aesthetic identity. Looking to commemorate his seventy-third year, Scofield has penned a collection of new compositions. Also, he reformed his swinging group, formerly Combo 66, to tour the music.
Rising star Gerald Clayton is an obvious choice on piano, an instrument central to the tunes. The connection between Scofield and drummer Bill Stewart strengthens as the decades pass. It was Stewart who introduced bassist Vicente Archer to the project eight years ago. Scofield is thrilled with the group and in addition to the musical combustion, especially enjoys the inter-generational quality. Here, seventies, fifties and forties are represented! Scofield will close 2025 with this band on tour.
Scofield is a triple Grammy award winning artist with fan bases in many camps and over fifty recordings as leader. Here, he has expressed himself in the vernacular of bebop, blues, jazz-funk, organ jazz, acoustic chamber jazz, electronically tinged groove music, jam band style and orchestral ensembles with ease and enthusiasm. Also, he has earned multiple Grammy nominations and is an Officier dans L’Ordre des Arts and Lettres by France. Moreover, Scofield tours the world approximately 200 days per year with his own groups. He has shared stages and studios with Miles Davis, Tony Williams, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock. Also, Joe Henderson, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, Eddie Harris, and John Mayer. Furthermore, Phil Lesh, Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples and Medeski, Martin & Wood among many music legends.
Recommended for fans of Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Robert Glasper and Miles Davis.
