Sioux Falls Fusion Premier with Middle School Jazz Ensemble

On Tuesday evening, the All City Middle School Jazz Ensemble performed a shared concert with the Augustana Northlanders Jazz Band at Kresge Recital Hall.

The Middle School Ensemble is comprised of 20 of the finest 7th and 8th grade jazz players in the city representing all five of the city's public middle schools. That evening, the band had the great honor of playing with Doug Beach, a nationally-known Grammy Award-winning trumpeter, composer, publisher, educator and arranger. Mr. Beach commissioned the piece "Sioux Falls Fusion" especially for the group, which served as a grand finale. A fun Latin-swing number, the commission of "Sioux Falls Fusion"was made possible with support from the Mr. Kealey Fund, the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society, and the Sioux Falls Public Schools. (The photo below l-r: Doug Beach and Danny Kealey)

The Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society also had the great pleasure of awarding the Michael Miller Scholarship to two players in the band. CJ Point a bass player from Patrick Henry and Pierre Guzman from Memorial. Point and Guzman will have the opportunity to study jazz privately or attend Augustana's band camp with their scholarship awards.

SFJB Staff Picks Top 5 Jazz Albums

In honor of Jazz Appreciation Month, the SFJB staff decided on the arduous task of picking their top 5 jazz albums. Here's how things shook out:

Robert Joyce, Executive Director

Miles Davis Kind of Blue

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out

Miles Davis Sketches of Spain

Charlie Parker Parker with Strings

Fourplay Best of Fourplay

Katrina Lehr-McKinney,

Executive Coordinator

Fitzgerald and Pass Again

Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall

The Very Best of Nina Simone 1967-1972 Sugar In My Bowl

Diana Krall Live in Paris

The Brad Mehldau Trio The Art of the Trio v.4 Back at the Vanguard

Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month during April!

The Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society is preparing to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month during April with several special events.

Jazz Appreciation Month was designated by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in 2001 and the U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2003 that declared April as Jazz Appreciation Month.

“The intention of the celebration is to draw public attention to the glories of jazz as both a historical and living treasure,” says Katrina Lehr-McKinney, executive coordinator of the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society. “This is the fifth year we’ve put together special events for JAM.”

Throughout April, events around the United States will play a part in heightening the awareness of America’s only indigenous art form - jazz music.

Jazz Appreciation Month events in the Sioux Falls community include (insights from Katrina Lehr-McKinney in italic):

• Jazz film Sunday series at Monk’s House of Ale Repute. All films start at 7pm.
• April 5: Calle 54
• April 12: One Night with Blue Note
• April 19: Bird
• April 26: A Great Day in Harlem

This jazz film series is a new venture for us and we are very excited that Monk’s is willing to expand their usual film offerings to focus on jazz music! The films selected are a wonderful mix of documentary, live performance footage, and drama.

• The All City Middle School Jazz Ensemble/Augustana Northlanders Jazz Band concert April 7^th at 7:30pm at Kresge Recital Hall on the Augustana College Campus. Guest clinician/composer Doug Beach will also perform. The All City Ensemble will premier a piece by Mr. Beach entitled “Sioux Falls Fusion,” commissioned for the All City Middle School Jazz Ensemble.

The All City Jazz Ensemble program has been in existence since 2002. The program gives students an opportunity to learn about jazz improvisation and performance at an in-depth level. Two scholarships are awarded each year to students in this group as well, so they can go on to study jazz privately or at Augie’s band camp.

• Jazz 101 – For Adults: JazzFest 2009 Artist Preview April 14^th at CJ Callaway’s Event Center at 7:30pm
  

Jazz 101 is a great event for anyone interested in learning more about the jazz and blues musicians that are presented at JazzFest or on our concert series. Dr. Paul Schilf does a great job keeping the evening a fun yet educational experience for those with all levels of background on the music.

• Downtown Jazz Crawl on April 25^th
• Touch of Europe – Jazzed from 8pm to midnight
• Paramount Studio – Terry Brooks from 9-11pm
• Latitude 44 – Brian Hanagan Group from 9pm to close
• Monk’s House of Ale Repute – Dan Peterson Trio from 7-10pm
• A Taste of the Big Apple – John Kelly & Co. from 5-7pm, West Coast Jazz Trio from 7-9pm
• Michelle’s Coffee – Geoff Gunderson from 7-9pm
• Wild Sage Grille – Jim McKinney Trio from 6-9pm

Last year, we had crawlers from Brookings, Iowa, and several surrounding communities take part in the evening. Making an evening out and visiting all the Jazz Crawl locations is a great time! You can have appetizers and drinks at one location, dinner at another, dessert at a third, and so on! It’s truly a great event that benefits both downtown businesses and local jazz musicians!

• Barnes & Noble Book Fair Fundraiser for the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society April 26^th. Special in-store performance by Dakota Jazz Collective at 3pm. A percentage of most purchases will be donated to the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society!

We hope that our fans will come down to Barnes & Noble on the 26^th to help us raise funding for our Educational Fund, which provides scholarships and education events to students in Sioux Falls and throughout South Dakota. You’ll also want to hang out and listen to Dakota Jazz Collective’s set at 3PM!

For more information about Jazz Appreciation Month events, visit the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society’s website, www.sfjb.org.

Blue Note 7 Were 'RED HOT'

'Red Hot' concert series ends on a high note.

March 25th was the end of the 2008-2009 'Red Hot' concert series and what a way to end it! The Blue Note 7 performed an amazing set list and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it!

Pictured are Bill Charlap on piano, Peter Bernstein on guitar, Ravi Colstrane on tenor sax, not pictured: Lewis Nash (drums), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), and Steve Wilson (alto sax).

Malone Wowed and Educated

The Russell Malone Quartet played the Sioux Falls Orpheum Theater on Saturday as the fourth performance on the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society's 2008-2009 concert series.

Malone's quartet played with pure class on tunes like "April in Paris" and "Witchcraft". "I've never liked the song 'Unchained Melody' until I heard him play it," said one concert-goer.

Earlier that day, Malone gave a workshop/Q&A to nearly 50 musicians and music lovers interested in getting an in-depth look into Malone's technique and approach to his playing.


The workshop and concert were presented with support The Design Studio, Inc. and the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art, with additional contributions from South Dakota Arts Council, General Mills Foundation, and Land O'Lakes Foundation.

Keb' Mo' and Elvin Bishop to Headline JazzFest 2009

JazzFest 2009 Set for July 17-18

The Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues Society is planning for an exciting JazzFest on July 17th and 18th at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, SD.

In 2008, the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Festival - JazzFest had over 90,000 attendees enjoying the beautiful summer weather and hot music!

JazzFest 2009 will bring an opportunity for the Sioux Falls community to come together and enjoy some great live music and summer fun for everyone.

Festival admission information:
• JazzFest remains a free event with donations accepted at the gate.
• There will be a $10 parking fee for this year’s festival inside Yankton Trail Park.
• No outside food or beverage will be allowed inside grounds as JazzFest is a fundraiser for the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society and proceeds for the festival are raised through beverage and food sales.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting will be at the festival from the first note to the last, taping for The Best of JazzFest 2009.

The Sanford Children’s JazzQuest will feature family friendly musical performances and other arts activities and games.

The Midcontinent Communications Big Screen will give all attendees a bird’s-eye view of the happenings on the main stage with these excellent artists*:

The uniquely creative sounds of Elvin Bishop, progressive jazz from The Bad Plus, soul stylings from veteran Bettye LaVette, the dynamic musicianship from the Tommy Castro Band, Delta blues from Keb’ Mo’, South Dakota’s “King of the Guitar” T. Wilson King, sweet jazz sounds from Dakota Jazz Collective, big band beats from Augustana’s Northlanders Jazz Band featuring guests Chris Vadala and Jeff Jarvis, funky Zydeco from Lil’ Brian and the Travelers, and local blues masters Blues Bashers.

Second stage will feature local talent from: Kyle Knutson, Jami Lynn and the Aquila Band, Coltcockers, Truth & Adapt, TIM the Band, Liquid Thin, Blue in Green, The Body Electric, Chris Saub, and Tri-Dimensional.

The Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Festival, JazzFest is organized by the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society, a non-profit arts organization.

For interviews, photos or bios, please contact the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society at 605-335-6101 or info@sfjb.org.

Get Ready for Russell Malone

Next week's visitation of jazz guitarist Russell Malone in the Sioux Falls community is a jazz-lovers dream come true. The virtuoso is a legend in the jazz world, having played with many of the best and brightest including Diana Krall and Harry Connick, Jr.

On Saturday, March 14, Mr. Malone will conduct a free workshop/demonstration/Q&A at the Orpheum Theater at 3pm. This is a great opportunity for guitarists, jazz musicians, or music lovers interested in learning about Mr. Malone's technique and approach to music.

The Russell Malone Quartet will perform at 8pm that evening, also at the Orpheum. The lineup of musicians is as follows:

Russell Malone: Guitar
Martin Bejerano: Piano (also plays with Roy Haynes and is a Grammy nominated musician)
Tassili Bond: Bass (played with Antonion Hart, Elvin Jones, Stefon Harris)
Johnathan Blake: Drums (Grammy nominated drummer and composer work with Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker)

Tickets are still available for this performance. Call the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society box office at 605-335-6101 or purchase online.

Cool Down at Tre Lounge immediately following the concert with the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society. SFJB ticket holders will enjoy food specials and happy hour prices. You never know ifa special guest will make a surprise appearance!

The Russell Malone Quartet concert and workshop are sponsored by The Design Studio, Inc., and the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art, with additional contributions from South Dakota Arts Council, General Mills Foundation, and Land O'Lakes Foundation.