Vocalist Connie Evingson is getting ready to do her final performance at the Woman’s Club. Next Wednesday, May 28 Connie and Lori Dokken are co-presenting a concert titled “Our Hearts Will Go On." The event features an incredible list of Twin Cities talent such as Mary Jane Alm, Doug Anderson, Ginger Commodore, Lori Dokken, Joan Griffith, Jennifer Grimm, Rachel Holder, Patty Peterson, T. Mychael Rambo, Emily Rubbelke, Erin Schwab, Dane Stauffer, Judi Vinar, Charmin Michelle and more. In addition to this star studded lineup, it is commendable that this performance benefits two current Woman’s Club tenants: Involve MN and Project DIVA International. The funds will help them secure a new physical space for their organizations. Connie visited Jazz88 to discuss her plans for the concert with Afternoon Cruise host Sean McPherson.

2025 marks the centenary year of Malcolm X's birth. For the occasion, Dr. Rose Brewer, Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan and additional planners have organized an event uplifting the politics and vision of Malcolm X. The event is on Saturday, May 17 at UROC at Plymouth and Oliver. The event is described in the promotional materials as gathering of "conscious minds that will include panel discussion, break out groups and vegan food!" 

Dr. Rose Brewer is a Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor and Past Chair Person of the Department of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She took the time to hop on a ZOOM with Sean McPherson from Jazz88 to talk about the event, provide some modern context for X's impact and point listeners to some additional material if they want to learn more about Malcolm X.

Michael Bland is a musical powerhouse who calls the Twin Cities home. He is best known for his tenure as the drummer for Prince, but he has been a part of so many great moments in Twin Cities music. This Saturday, Bland will be diving back into the music of Prince for a show titled “New Power Generation – A Tribute To Prince." The show is this Saturday at the Hopkins Center For the Arts at 8pm. Bland connected with Jazz88's Sean McPherson to talk about his approach to Prince's music and his familial connection to his fellow New Power Generation bandmates.

Friends of the station Thomas and Alex Streitz are celebrating the launch of their new non-profit, The Minnesota Poets Collective. The group celebrates the art of poetry in all its forms and seeks to bring together diverse voices from all around the state of Minnesota. The father/son duo were nice enough to stop by the Jazz88 studios to talk about their upcoming publications and their mission to connect with Minnesota poets.

Grammy-nominated drummer, vocalist and producer Kassa Overall is bringing his approach full circle with a performance at The Dakota on Wednesday night. Some of Overall's earliest professional experiences were traveling with Geri Allen, Wallace Roney and others in very formal jazz bandstand settings. On Wednesday, Overall will bring all the enthusiasm and adventurousness that he's known for into a seated nightclub performance. Kassa Overall will also be premiering some new sounds that will be part of his next release and will be joined by the celebrated musician, and recent Twin Cities transplant, Melvin Gibbs.

Somali blues & American gospel have a conversation in a show coming to the St. Thomas University campus (St. Paul) Sunday, April 6 and Saint John's University (Collegeville) April 27. Bobby Vandell spoke with the organizers JD Steele, Ahmed Yusuf and Beck Lee. Details at https://culturalfluencyinitiative.org/events/

Judi Vinar is a singer's singer. Her skills and her collaborative spirit have made her an in-demand vocalist and vocal instructor nationwide. She dropped by Jazz88 to discuss her upcoming shows with Dennis Spears and the Wolverines Jazz Trio at The Capri Theater on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6. Vinar talked about maintaining her calm, her longtime collaborators the Wolverines and more.

Trombonist Ryan Keberle is making his way back through town for a performance at Berlin on April 11 with his group Reverso. Keberle was nice enough to catch up with Jazz88 and talk about Reverso as well as his other projects, Colectivo De Brasil and Catharsis. Keberle also shared his thoughts about writing memorable melodies and introduced us to his sleepy dog Stitch.

Singer Yazmin Bowers is also a pianist, painter, dancer and teacher. She's also quite the World traveler spending a lot of her time in Havana, Cuba where she teaches music and culture and eventually incorporating her own experiences into her own music. With her heart and soul ultimately coming from her Midwestern roots, it's always a delight to hear what she's up to musically and how her recent collaborations with the Twin Cities' own, Havana Quartet beart fruit.

We were lucky enough to have Yazmin along with Alvaro and Andrew from her group join us on the Afternoon Cruise to tell us more about what they've been up to and what to expect from her show at Crooners.

Shabaka is one of the most vital voices working in music today. For the past decade he has been heralded as one of the strongest and most imaginative saxophonists and bandleaders in jazz. The past handful of years have seen Shabaka turn his focus towards the flute. But his mission of creating "the best music possible" remains unchanged. Shabaka caught up with Sean McPherson to discuss his approach in advance of his appearance at The Walker on Thursday, March 20.