Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival

The Twin Cities Jazz Festival is fast becoming one of the largest free civic events in the upper Midwest, attracting upwards of 30,000 people. Founded in 1999 by festival promoter Steve Heckler, The main events of the festival are held at Mears Park in St. Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

in the Lowertown neighboorhood. The festival closes several blocks and utilizes clubs such as the Bulldog, Hat Trick, Black Dog, Station 4 and Return to Forever

Return to Forever

Return to Forever is a jazz fusion group founded and led by keyboardist Chick Corea. Through its existence, the band has cycled through a number of different members, with the only consistent band mate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke...

in the Artists' Quarter.

In addition, Media partners include Jazz 88 radio (broadcasting live locally and streaming live on the internet internationally), WCCO-TV

WCCO-TV

WCCO-TV, is the CBS owned and operated television station that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Its transmitter is at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.- History :...

, the Rake

The Rake

Described as "The Modern Voice of Classic Elegance", The Rake is a bimonthly men's style and artisanal luxury publication that is launched in December 2008 and published by Revolution Press International....

, City Pages

City Pages

City Pages is an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It features news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews, and music criticism. It is printed in a tabloid format, and is available free every Wednesday...

, Jazz Police, La Prenza and MPLS-St. Paul Magazine. The festival has also received extensive coverage in the Star Tribune

Star Tribune

The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...

, Pioneer Press

Pioneer Press

The Pioneer Press publishes 50 local newspapers in the metropolitan Chicago area. It is a division of the Sun-Times Media Group. Pioneer Press' headquarters is in Glenview...

, The Spokesman

Spokesman

A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...

and Skyway News.

Festival performers have included: Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...

, Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions...

, Return to Forever

Return to Forever

, Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...

, Clark Terry

Clark Terry

Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...

, Monty Alexander

Monty Alexander

Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...

, Tony Monaco, Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra

Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...

, Butch Thompson

Butch Thompson

Butch Thompson is an American jazz pianist and clarinetist best known for his ragtime and stride performances....

, Bill Evans

Bill Evans

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...

, Red Holloway

Red Holloway

James W. "Red" Holloway is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Holloway started playing banjo and harmonica, switching to tenor sax when he was twelve years old...

, Jack McDuff

Jack McDuff

"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...

, Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist, trumpeter, and vocalist. Down Beat's Critics and Readers Poll selected him as the top jazz organist every year since 2003.DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania...

, Melvin Rhyne

Melvin Rhyne

Melvin Rhyne , is a jazz organist best known for his work with Wes Montgomery.-Early Years:Melvin Rhyne was born in Indianapolis in 1936 and started playing the piano shortly thereafter...

, Benny Golson

Benny Golson

Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...

, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Chris Michalek

Chris Michalek

Chris Michalek was an American harmonica player.Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was an accomplished modern diatonic harmonica player in many styles including Jazz, Funk, Blues and World Music. Michalek was also the organizer of the Global Harmonica Summit in 2000...

, Chick Corea

Chick Corea

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...

, Alicia Renee, Heatin' System, Bernard Purdie

Bernard Purdie

Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...

, Howard Levy

Howard Levy

Howard Levy is a Grammy Award–winning, American harmonicist, pianist, composer, and producer....

, Debbie Duncan, Big Walter Smith, Percy Strother, Ben Sidran

Ben Sidran

Ben Sidran is an American jazz and rock pianist, organist, vocalist and writer born in Chicago, noted for his work with the early Steve Miller Band.-Biography:...

, Von Freeman

Von Freeman

Earle Lavon Freeman Sr. is an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. He is the father of jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman.-Biography:...

, Tiger Okoshi

Tiger Okoshi

Toru "Tiger" Okoshi is an American jazz fusion trumpeter. He was born in the Year of the Tiger on March 21 1950, just outside of Osaka , Japan. As a child he was, in fact, devoted to painting as he loves today...

, Peter Schimke, YellowJackets, David "Fathead" Newman, Eric Alexander, Jimmy McGriff

Jimmy McGriff

James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:...

, Kristin Korb, Hiromi

Hiromi

Hiromi Uehara , known as Hiromi, is a jazz composer and pianist born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as jazz, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions.- History :Hiromi started learning...

, Phil Hey Quartet, Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin

Lew Tabackin is a jazz flautist and a tenor saxophonist. He is married to Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is a jazz pianist and a composer/arranger.-Biography:...

, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, with her album, I've Got My Own Hell to Raise...

, Ira Sullivan

Ira Sullivan

Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....

, Henry Johnson's Organ Express, Nachito Herrera, Salsa del Soul, Bobby Sanabria

Bobby Sanabria

Bobby Sanabria is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader, educator, producer, and writer specializing in Latin jazz.-Biography:Sanabria was born at St. Francis Hospital in the South Bronx, where he grew up...

, Mose Allison

Mose Allison

Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...

, George Avaloz, Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....

, Barbara Morrison

Barbara Morrison

Barbara Morrison is an American singer of jazz music.Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan and raised in Romulus, Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. Well known in the Los Angeles area for her duo and trio dates Ms...

, US Air Force Falconaires, Norman Simmons

Norman Simmons (musician)

Norman Simmons is an American arranger, composer, educator, and most prominently a pianist who has worked extensively with Helen Humes, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan, Anita O'Day, and Joe Williams among others.-Biography:...

, Frank Morgan

Frank Morgan

Frank Morgan was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...

, David Young

David Young

-Music:*David Young , American instrumentalist*Dave Young , Canadian rock musician*David J. Young, American musician/composer-Science:*David Allan Young , American entomologist*David M. Young, Jr...

, Jon Weber

Jon Weber

Jon Weber is a New York City and Chicago-based jazz pianist and composer whose compositions and performances have met critical and popular acclaim in many countries around the world...

, Jerry Weldon

Jerry Weldon

Jerry Weldon is a tenor saxophonist, noted for his involvement in various groups such as Lionel Hampton Orchestra and Harry Connick, Jr.s big band...

, MN Big Band.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.