Tickets are $25.00 and $23.00 in advance, $27.00 and 25.00 at the door. Students $16.00 reserved in advance, $10.00 rush at the door. Series tickets: $75.00 main floor; $69.00 balcony. For questions call 612-242-4791. For tickets call Ticket Works at 651-209-6689 or visit www.ticketworks.com
Saturday, October 13, 2007 - Guest Artist: Wayne Bergeron
Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron is one of the most active players on the Los Angeles scene. A former Maynard Ferguson sideman, Bergeron's first solo Big Band CD entitled You Call This A Living? earned him a Grammy nomination in 2004 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. www.waynebergeron.com
Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Guest Artist: Chris Vadala
One of the country's foremost woodwind artists, Chris Vadala is in demand as a jazz/classical performer and educator. He has appeared on more than 100 recordings to date, as well as innumerable jingle sessions, film and TV scores, performing on all the saxophones, flutes, and clarinets. http://www.chrisvadala.com
Saturday, March 22, 2008 - Guest Artist: Kevin Mahogany
With his gift for bebop, ballads, blues, and swinging jazz, Kevin Mahogany has proved to be the quintessential jazz vocalist. Newsweek describes him as “ the standout jazz vocalist of his generation." http://www.kevinmahogany.com
The JazzMN Big Band, directed by Doug Snapp, includes many of the Twin Cities' finest jazz musicians. Members have performed with some of the world's most famous big bands including Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman.
Formed as a nonprofit jazz arts organization in 1998, JazzMN is a professional orchestra combining the talents of outstanding jazz musicians from throughout the Twin Cities, and follows the models of classical orchestras in striving for artistic excellence. JazzMN's mission is to promote, preserve and perpetuate jazz, America's indigenous art music, through performance, historical preservation and educational outreach.
JazzMN Big Band Biographies
Artistic Director
Dr. Douglas R. Snapp (Artistic/Executive Director) - Dr. Snapp currently serves as the Director of Jazz Studies and Trumpet professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota, and plays principal trumpet in the Mankato Symphony. Doug Snapp received his doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado, and his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of North Texas. During his tenure at the University of Northern Colorado, Snapp served as Assistant Director of Jazz Studies, where he directed and performed in many groups that received prestigious Downbeat magazine awards in the Big Band, Combo, and Vocal Jazz categories. In 1998, Snapp founded the JazzMN organization. Since that time, the JazzMN Big Band has featured artists such as Slide Hampton, Phil Woods, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Weckl, the New York Voices and many others along with the top-call musicians in the Twin Cities.
Saxophones
Brian Grivna (alto saxophone) is a free-lancer in the Twin Cities, spent ten years as a staff woodwind player at the Guthrie Theater and has toured with the Buddy Rich Band. He has been performing and recording with the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He plays on the Garrison Keillor radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion" and with Broadway pit orchestras; he teaches saxophone and jazz improvisation at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota.
Pete Whitman (alto saxophone) has been actively composing, arranging, and performing for the past 21 years. As a jazz saxophonist he has performed with such artists as Randy Brecker, Jack McDuff, and the Woody Herman Orchestra and currently leads his own group, Departure Point. Whitman attended North Texas State University, where he received his B.M. and M.M. majoring in Jazz Studies and minoring in Flute. Currently, Whitman is also teaching at McNally Smith College, a Minneapolis-based music school where he heads the Woodwind and Brass Department.
Dave Karr (tenor saxophone) has performed with name bands, symphony orchestras, Broadway shows and recording sessions. His saxophone and original compositions can be heard at local jazz venues, such as the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul. He has been composing and producing music for radio and TV since 1970, and with Mark Henderson formed Mark & Dave Music and Sound Design in 1996.
Dale Mendenhall (tenor saxophone) has over 30 years of professional music experience. As a freelance musician, Dale has performed at Orchestra Hall with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Guthrie Theater, the Ordway, the Children's Theatre, the State and Orpheum Theatres, backing up such artists as Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, and Tony Bennett and many more. He toured Japan with Ben Sidran and the Paris singer Clementine. He plays regularly with local groups including the Jimmy Behringer band, Minnesota Klezmer Band, TC Jammers, the Hornheads, Stud Brothers, and Reuben Ristrom Trio. Dale also plays various jazz festivals around the country with the Orlando, Florida-based Bill Allred Classic Jazz Orchestra.
Kathy Jensen (baritone saxophone) is a member of the Hornheads, a Billboard magazine award-winning a capella jazz group. As a group, they have released two solo albums. As a horn section, they have recorded hundreds of tracks for artists in the US, Argentina, Denmark, Portugal and the UK. From 1991 through 2001 the Hornheads recorded nine albums with Prince and the New Power Generation and toured Europe, Japan, Australia and the US. Before this, Kathy performed at jazz festivals in Italy and Finland with several local groups, including Moore by Four. Kathy is a pit musician for musical shows and theatrical productions at the Orpheum, Ordway and Guthrie theaters. She has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and with touring artists such as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Natalie Cole. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in music education.
Trombones
Michael B. Nelson (trombone) has distinguished himself as leader, arranger and trombonist for the Hornheads, an a capella jazz horn group. In addition to receiving the McKnight Composers Fellowship in 1996, he has composed, arranged for and toured worldwide with Prince and many international artists. His trombone credits include performances with Doc Severinsen, Chaka Khan, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Sidran, Sammy Davis, Jr., Phil Upchurch and many others. He has also produced and arranged several Target Lifescapes Series jazz CDs. He studied at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, Appleton, Wisc., under Fred Sturm. He is also a member of the trombone ensemble, Locally Damaging Winds, heard periodically at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul.
Dave Graf (trombone) - One of the most versatile trombonists in the Twin Cities, Dave has worked in a wide range of musical settings: Dixieland, straight-ahead jazz, salsa and Brazilian music, big bands, pit orchestras and recordings. He has backed entertainment legends such as Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Connick, Jr., Julie Andrews and Rosemary Clooney. Dave is proud of his eleven-year association with the late trumpeter Red Wolfe (Port of Dixie Jazz Band and Ellington Echoes), and continues to perform with the latter ensemble, which is now led by saxophonist Percy Hughes.
Ethan Freier (trombone) graduated in 1988 from Indiana University with a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies and a Performance Certificate in Trombone. Then he came to the Twin Cities and has enjoyed much success as a freelance trombonist performing Latin, jazz, classical, Broadway, rock and pop music in a variety of settings including pit orchestras, recording sessions, nightclubs, corporate events, weddings and shows that feature touring artists. Many of Freier's arrangements can be heard performed by the groups Synergy and Latin Sounds Orchestra. He is also a teacher at Northfield Middle School and Hamline University.
Wade Clark (bass trombone) - Wade's wide-ranging musical career has taken him all over the country: to Boston, where he attended the Berklee School of Music; to San Francisco as a freelance player; and finally, to the Twin Cities, where his finesse on the large horn has been in high demand for the past 20+ years. His big band resume includes stints with Buddy Rich, Les Elgart, Nelson Riddle and Buddy Morrow. He has backed up countless shows, from Sammy Davis, Jr., to the Moody Blues to the San Francisco Ballet. Wade also has logged extensive “pit" time (at the Guthrie, the Ordway, and the Minneapolis Children's Theatre). He is an active session musician, having recorded on hundreds of commercials, soundtracks, etc. In addition to his performing credits Wade stays busy as a freelance arranger, orchestrator and copyist.
Trumpets
Bob Hallgrimson (trumpet) performs regularly with the Cedar Avenue Big Band, Mick Sterling and the Stud Brothers, as well as various Latin bands in the Twin Cities. He has backed such well-known artists as Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Woody Herman, the Temptations and Rosemary Clooney. Bob attended North Dakota State University, New England Conservatory and LaMont School of Music in Denver, Colo.
Jeff Gottwig (trumpet), a native of the Pacific Northwest, is director of bands at Farmington High School, MN, where he conducts the Jazz, Concert and Marching Band groups. As an active musician around the Twin Cities area, Jeff has worked with many of the areas top groups including the Minnesota Orchestra, The Cedar Avenue Big Band, The Wolverines, the Minnesota State Fair Orchestra and many other performance situations. His credits as a sideman include performances with Harry Connick Jr., Thad Jones, Steve Allen, Jon Faddis, the Manhattan Transfer and Janet Jackson. Jeff attended the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, graduating with honors in music education, and is soon to receive his Masters in Music Education from the University of St. Thomas.
Dave Jensen (trumpet) is a member of the Hornheads, a Billboard magazine award-winning a capella jazz group. As a group, they have released two solo albums. As a horn section, they have recorded hundreds of tracks for artists in the US, Argentina, Denmark, Portugal and the UK. From 1991 through 2001 the Hornheads recorded nine albums with Prince and the New Power Generation and toured Europe, Japan, Australia and the US. Before this, Dave spent three years touring with the Artie Shaw Orchestra. Dave is a pit musician for musical shows and theatrical productions at the Orpheum, Ordway and Guthrie theaters. Dave has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and is a faculty member at McNally Smith College. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston's Berklee College of Music.
Adam Rossmiller (trumpet) is an active performer and educator in both the classical and jazz idioms around the Twin Cities area. He has performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Air Force Notables, JazzMN, Pete Whitman's X-Tet, the Summit Hill Brass Quintet, the Bach Society of Minnesota and has shared the stage with John Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Rob McConnell, Bill Holman, Michael Mossmann, Dennis Diblasio, Phil Smith, Vince DiMartino, Tom Peterson, Phil Hey and Manny Laureano. Adam was the interim director of Jazz Band at St. Cloud State University during the 2004-2005 school year, and has been a teaching assistant in trumpet and jazz theory at the University of Minnesota. He continues to maintain a private studio. Currently Adam is completing a D.M.A. at the University of Minnesota, from where he holds a M.M. He received his B.M. in jazz studies from the Lamont School of Music in Denver, Colorado.
Rhythm
Mary Louise Knutson (piano) is a Minneapolis-based pianist and composer who has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Dianne Reeves, Bobby McFerrin, Richie Cole, Greg Abate, Von Freeman, Billy Hart, and Richard Davis. As a composer, Knutson has won two awards from Billboard magazine for her compositions “How Will I Know?" and “Meridian." Her debut jazz trio CD, Call Me When You Get There, was charted in the Top 50 in the United States and Canada for eight consecutive weeks.
Dave Singley (guitar) has shared the stage with numerous jazz artists, including Tal Farlow, George Shearing, Butch Thompson, Larry Elgart and Jim Snidero. He has also performed with Perry Como, Jimmie Rodgers, Debbie Reynolds, Rich Little and many others. Dave can be heard on CDs by local artists, including his own debut, How My Heart Sings. Dave holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Composition/Arranging from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a Master of Music Degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University.
Terry Burns (bass) is currently the Director of the Bass Department at McNally Smith College, St. Paul, and has been a professional bassist for 30 years. His performance credits in range from performances with Linda Rondstadt and Joe Walsh to performances and recordings with the greatest names in Jazz including Gene Harris, Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Marlena Shaw, Jane Monheit, Freddy Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, David “Fathead" Newman, Ray Bryant and Billy Higgins. Terry has released two solo recordings on SONGSPEAK Records to critical acclaim and received nominations for “Jazz Recording of the Year" and “Bassist of the Year" in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 from the Minnesota Music Awards.
Joe Pulice (drums) has worked with such jazz greats as Stan Getz, Slide Hampton, David Liebman and Jack McDuff. As a show player, he has performed with many artists including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Harry Connick, Jr. In 1979, Joe won The Northern Midwest Regional Louie Bellson/Slingerland Drum Contest. In 1986, he toured with Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd during Woody's 50th Anniversary Tour. He has won two Minnesota Jazz Music Awards -- one for Best Jazz Vibist and one as a member of world-renowned drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt's group “Kamanari." Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree in Percussion from the University of Minnesota.
For more information contact Georgia Gould-Lyle.
