Karrin Allyson and Rod Fleeman are never far from the holiday spirit. After sharing many a night on stage in Kansas City Allyson and Fleeman frequently travel together to bring their special brand of holiday cheer further afield. The duo were nice enough to stop by our studios today to serenade us with renditions of "Christmas Bells Are Ringing" and "Some of that Sunshine" plus some conversation.

DeCarlo Jackson is a shining light in the Twin Cities. He is a member of HEYARLO, Hippocampus and is a gifted trumpet player and bassist. After a viewing of the Spike Lee classic Mo' Better Blues, DeCarlo Jackson wanted to combine the thriving jazz scene in the Twin Cities with the thriving comedy scene in the Twin Cities. After connecting with Emma Dalenberg, the duo planted the seeds for RIFFS, which began out at Jazz Central Studios in October. The comedy/jazz collaboration continues this weekend with shows on Sunday December 17 and New Year's Eve at the Green Room in Uptown. Listen to hear how the collaboration got started and some of the high points so far!

Toussaint Morrison and Roz Prickel are no strangers to stages of all varieties. But after about a year of contemplation and a handful of weeks of intense work, the duo are ready to stage their debut holiday show. They'll be staging it at Northeast Social on Thursday and Friday December 14 and 15.

Some changes are coming to Minneapolis Public Schools in the next couple of months. There will be new leadership with a permanent Superintendent set to take over soon for the current interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox, who MPS Voices Executive Producer Manny Hill recently caught up with. Manny and Rochelle talk about a few topics, as the winter break is coming up, but first they discussed the news of the new Superintendent coming on board.

Stacey Kent is a critically acclaimed jazz singer beloved the world over. She has sold more than two million recordings and her music has been downloaded a half a billion times. Her latest recording, “Summer Me, Winter Me” was recently issued on Naïve records. Jazz88’s Peter Solomon caught up with Kent via Zoom to discuss the new recording. (Photo by Judy Maxwell. )

Joshua Redman recently released his Blue Note Records debut, "Where Are We". The album is much more lyrics heavy than Redman's previous outings and features Redman's maiden voyage as a lyric writer. The album is built around a collaboration between Redman and vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa as well as a top notch band featuring Aaron Parks, Joe Sanders and Brian Blade. Joshua Redman is scheduled for two shows at the Dakota on February 6 of 2024.

Dayna Martinez, the Executive Director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, stopped by during the Morning Show to announce the artists that will be featured in Winter Jazz Fest coming up on February 24, 2024.

We are stuffed to the gills in Minnesota with great jazz artists. We wanted to highlight some of the best songs released in 2023. This list is by no means comprehensive and we encourage you to listen our stream dedicated to Minnesota music, Minnesota Jazz Tracks. And don't miss out on the great local show of the same name on our FM airwaves on Monday nights from 7-9.

We are stuffed to the gills in Minnesota with great jazz artists. We wanted to highlight some of the best songs released in 2023. This list is by no means comprehensive and we encourage you to listen our stream dedicated to Minnesota music, Minnesota Jazz Tracks. And don't miss out on the great local show of the same name on our FM airwaves on Monday nights from 7-9.

Enrollment Season has gotten underway again at Minneapolis Public Schools. It started November 15, and MPS Voices Executive PRoducer Manny Hill talked with MPS Director of Enrollment Managment Martha Swanson about important dates for families to remember, and also the upcoming School Finder Fair happening on January 13!