MPS Voices Executive Producer Manny Hill is joined by the Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools Dr. Lisa Sayles Adams to address the news of the budget gap MPS is facing, the district's plan for National Nutrition Month, and to highlight the MPS Shines winners for the month of March!

Celebrated drummer JT Bates is getting back into the fold as a curator and booker. In addition to taking on more booking responsibilities at Icehouse in general, Bates is curating Mondays at Icehouse for the month of March. Listen to find out what Bates has planned for the long running curated Monday series at Icehouse.

Red Thread’s songs could be considered what happens when you combine traditional songs, new compositions and modern technology. The new CD is called Immigrantke. When Sarah Larsson of Red Thread talked to Phil Nusbaum about the new project, she addressed why all the songs of separation.

Tina Schlieske has been a fixture in the Twin Cities music scene since the 1990s but this is the first time she's had a project so centered in jazz. On her new album "The Good Life" Schlieske performed classic numbers with some of the finest musicians in the Twin Cities jazz scene. Tina stopped in to chat with Sean McPherson about the new album and about the release show at Icehouse.

In the summer of 2020 deVon Russell Gray, Nathan Hanson and Davu Seru recorded the album "We Sick" in a church in Saint Paul that was available due to the COVID pandemic. The tumult of the summer of 2020 showed up in all sorts of ways on the spontaneously composed recordings. Since the 2022 release of the album, enthusiasm for the work of Gray, Hanson and Seru has increased and they are preparing for another performance Thursday February 29 at Berlin in Minneapolis. Sean McPherson caught up with the group to find out how their music is developing.

According to LA Buckner, he is putting "all his eggs into his own basket". After years of splitting his time as a sideman and as a leader he is focusing on taking LA Buckner and BiG HOMiE up to the next level. To that end, Buckner is making his debut as a leader at Crooners this Friday. Listen to find out what the plan is for the show on Friday.

Peter Solomon spoke with Dayna Martinez, Executive Director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, about the headliners that will be featured at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June.

GiftedHandz is a Minneapolis group of young people who have come up playing multiples styles in church settings. The group performs Friday night March 1 at 8pm at Jazz Central Studios in Minneapolis. When Joe Mason, a GiftedHandz founding member, sat down with Phil Nusbaum, Joe discussed GiftedHandz’ musical blend.

The Group is Traiveon and Candi, featuring Jackson Hurst and Mayyadda. The group’s music has a pop sound, but the songs deal with some serious personal stuff, while they reference Valentine’s Day and Black History Month. Catch All Sweet Things: A Celebration of Black Love 7pm Sunday February 18, at the Dakota in Minneapolis. In an interview with Phil Nusbaum, Traiveon first talked about the need to take care of one’s mental health.

MacPhail Center for music has a program called the Spotlight Program, which encourages its teachers to create musical programs. That’s what stimulated the creation of “It Takes Two”, an evening of Broadway musical-style songs with piano accompaniment to be performed at Crooner’s Supper Club in Fridley next Thursday. MacPhail pianist Timothy De Prey tells of the group process that created “It Takes Two.”