Michael Cain, a gifted pianist, piano instructor and Director of Electronic Music and Recording Arts at MacPhail as well as the co-founder and CEO of Ekwe stopped by Jazz88 to discuss a concert he's throwing at Antonello Hall this Saturday with Yousif Sheronick, Barbara Cohen, JD Steele, Zacc Harris and more.

The celebrated singer-songwriter Valerie June is making her way to the Twin Cities for a performance this Saturday at Hopkins Center for the Arts. Sean McPherson caught up with Valerie June to find out about her performance process, her songwriting philosophy and her recent forays into public speaking.

A.J. Srubas leads a group of great local fiddlers in a tribute to bluegrass fiddler, Kenny Baker. Baker served for many years as the fiddler in the band led by the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. The performance takes place at Celtic Junction, Sunday March 24 at 3PM. In a conversation with Phil Nusbaum, A.J. addressed why he wanted to honor the memory of Kenny Baker.

Jazz88's Peter Solomon caught up with singer Cyrille Aimee ahead of her performance at the Dakota on Tuesday, March 19th. She talked about her childhood in France, her introduction to jazz, her decision to move to New Orleans, the house she designed and built in Costa Rica during the pandemic, and her new album of originals "A Fleur de Peau" which is being released this month.

Singer-Composer Jennifer Grimm and her husband and musical partner, Joe Cruz, visited with Jazz88's Peter Solomon on the Morning Show. Jennifer performed two originals - "Half a Man" and "I Miss Minneapolis/St. Paul" and did a short version of "Our Love Is Here to Stay." She talked about her unusual musical background (she grew up singing in a family variety show act) and about her approach to writing songs.

Mary Halvorson is widely regarded as the most exciting guitarist of her generation. She continues to cement that reputation with her new Nonesuch release "Cloudward". On this record Halvorson endeavored to not "overwrite", leaving space for the instrumentalists to find their way on their terms. Halvorson discussed her approach, her philosophy and the way that she navigated exploring music as a career.

Tenor saxophonist JD Allen speaks with Jazz88's Peter Solomon about his recent recording THIS, which features Allen playing with Gwilym Jones on drums and electronic soundscapes created by Alex Bonney. Allen will be appearing in the Twin Cities March 15th at Jazz Central and March 16th at Icehouse,

The Twin Cities Flamenco Collective continues at Icehouse in Minneapolis, Sunday March 17. It features its cast of local players as well as a singer from the southwest US. Phil Nusbaum talked with Sachiko La Chayí and Ross Fellrath about flamenco and the collective. For one thing, Ross said, it’s largely improvisational.

Minnesota based guitarist Cody Steinmann has been steadily releasing music with his trio which features Chris Bates on bass, Abbinet Berhanu on the drums. But for his next act Steinmann is bringing in some extra support. East Coast based tenor player JD Allen is coming through town for a number of engagements including a performance and recording session with Steinmann. Steinmann visited Jazz88 to talk about his upcoming whirlwind weekend with JD Allen and company.

The Dregs occupy a singular musical niche: Band members backgrounds are varied, but together, the group sings and plays twisted versions of songs, to the delight of audiences in Minnesota and elsewhere. The Dregs take the stage at the Metronome in Saint Paul, Saint Patrick’s Weekend, Saturday and Sunday March 16 and 17. When Tim and Molly of the Dregs got together with Phil Nusbaum, first they talked about the history of the Dregs.