Steve Kenny Presents a quintet playing his original compositions, this Saturday at 8pm at the jazz club Berlin, in Minneapolis. Lately, Kenny is working within a composing concept, which he calls Blue Chunks. In a conversation with Phil Nusbaum, Kenny talked about Blue Chunks. But it’s also a composing renaissance for Kenny, brought about by changes in the local jazz scene.

Jazz88's Peter Solomon spoke with organist Pat Bianchi about his relationship to the Hammond B-3 organ and the influence of the late organist Joey DeFrancesco. Bianchi will perform at the Crooners Main Stage Thursday, November 14th with drummer Byron Landham and guitarist Paul Bollenback, who served as DeFrancesco's rhythm section for many years.

John Penny creates dense musical textures using virtual instruments. These crafted arrangements accompany John’s singing and guitar playing on original and other compelling music. It’s John’s latest project, and comes after years of writing movie scores and soundtracks for TV commercials, and playing World jazz on the guitar. John performs Tuesday November 12, 6-7pm at the Metronome in Saint Paul. In a conversation with Phil Nusbaum, John Penny first address why he composes music.

Oogie_Push is from the Meskwaki Nation and is currently creating on Dakota territory, aka the Twin Cities. She’s an actor, writer, storyteller, dancer, a Meskwaki twine bag weaver, a production assistant and an award-winning documentarian. She is the playwright and lead performer for the Full Circle Production “The Adventures of a Traveling Meskwaki”. The show opens this evening (Friday November 8) at the Park Square Theatre in downtown Saint Paul and it runs through November 24th.

Broadcaster and Grammy-nominated performer Judy Carmichael is coming back to the Twin Cities for a performance at the O'Shaugnessy in Saint Paul on Saturday, November 16. She's no stranger to listeners of Jazz88 as we carry her show "Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired" on Monday nights at 10pm. She connected with Sean McPherson from Jazz88 to discuss her development as a piano player and how vital her connections with originators in the world of jazz like Count Basie were in the early years of her career.

Bassist Erik Fratzke from Happy Apple was nice enough to stop by the Jazz88 studio to discuss the group's new studio album New York CD. It's the group's first release in 17 years and Fratzke talked about the life cycle of the band and the beautiful rapport and camaraderie the group is enjoying as they hit the 25 year mark. Happy Apple is celebrating the vinyl release of New York CD this weekend with shows on Friday and Saturday November 8 and 9 at the Dakota in Minneapolis.

On the week of the release of MaLLy and Last Word's new album "The Sweetest of It All" MaLLy took some time to connect with Jazz88 to discuss his love of jazz. MaLLy's artform is hip-hop but his sources for inspiration run way deeper. He discussed how jazz can invite him to listen deeply, to relax and to celebrate Black culture in general. Listen in as MaLLy discusses some of his personal favorite jazz tracks with Sean McPherson.

Scott Amendola is a bay-area drummer and composer who has had long associations with artists like Charlie Hunter and Nels Cline. He performs with a trio including clarinetist Ben Goldberg and bassist Todd Sickafoose at Jazz Central on Thursday, November 7th. The group just released an album called "Here to There" consisting of music inspired by the bridge sections, i.e. the transition sections, of Thelonious Monk tunes. Amendola discusses all of this and his musical background with Jazz88's Peter Solomon. Picture by Lenny Gonzalez. From L to R: Scott Amendola (seated), Todd Sickafoose, Ben Goldberg.

Jesse Simon from the MN Hard Bop Collective grew up loving organ jazz out in Denver, Colorado so when it came to for the MN Hard Bop Collective to add more events to their sit-in series it was no surprise that Simon decided to concentrate on the organ. The series will draw inspiration from the legendary organist Shirley Scott. The MN Hard Bop Collective is launching a new weekly Sit-In Series event on Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30 at Metronome in Saint Paul. The group already holds court for their original Sit In Series at Metronome on Mondays at 7pm. Both events give jazz players of every age and ability level the opportunity to play with professional musicians and experience the exhilaration of 'sitting in' on a tune.

Erin Livingston sings The Great American Songbook at her show at the Blue Water Theater in Wayzata next Saturday November 9 at 7pm. With pianist Dale Alexander and bassist Gary Raynor, Erin will sing the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat King Cole. Whichever songs Erin is singing, she brings a love of great lyrics, as she told Phil Nusbaum.