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Buckle up for a jazz traffic jam
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
by Robin James
– February 9, 2005
Double your pleasure, double your fun: February is bursting with jazz concerts well worth the wait.
Three young musicians — drummer Mark McLean, pianist Peter Martin, and harmonica player Gregoire Maret — belong to the new school of jazz, an elite group of fine musicians extending and shaping the jazz tradition with their own distinctively fresh ideas. Look out, and show your love for them as they swing our way this month.
They’re giggin’ with world-class jazz artists and becoming strong leaders in their own right. Witness their performances at Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall and experience a little history in the making.
Thanks to local music promoters for booking these Grammy-caliber jazz artists on the same nights. The upside is a grand parade of exceptional music by musicians backing bandleaders nearly as famous as their leaders. McLean, Martin and Maret aren’t names that are immediately recognized, but that’s just a temporary thing.
The commotion starts with the music of the legendary Pharoah Sanders. Don’t miss Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet at Northrop Auditorium on Friday and Saturday, February 11-12, for a rare concert appearance by the master saxophonist-composer. The performance focuses on the unique oral and musical traditions of the early South through dance and the essence of past and present African American culture. Sanders performs his original score live with rare recordings of old slave songs.
Winter Jazz Festival warms up Orchestra Hall
For the Winter Jazz Festival at Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall, artists Peter Cincotti (Friday, February 18), Dianne Reeves (Saturday, February 19), and the Pat Metheny Group (Tuesday, February 22) headline the first major Twin Cities jazz concert dates of 2005.
Drummer Mark McLean shared the stage with vocalist-pianist Peter Cincotti at the original Dakota a while back. Ain’t nothin’ changed but the venue. Cincotti and his outfit will play music from his new CD On The Moon (Concord Records, 2004) featuring the fine young drummer.
McLean has played with Cincotti for several years, but has also found time in his busy schedule to record with the legendary singer Andy Bey. McLean appears on Andy Bey’s American Song, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album last month.
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