Ginger Commodore, Judi Vinar and Connie Evingson are all headliners in their own right but they have elected to get together as a triple threat for the first time to usher in the holidays with their Crooner's concert on November 30 "Holiday Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice". The trio connected with Sean McPherson from the Afternoon Cruise to discuss their plans for the concert and their storied careers in the Twin Cities music world.

Maurice Jacox is a living legend. He's lived his life on stages around the world and nowadays the Twin Cities is blessed to see him all over town. On November 28 Maurice will be leading his group "We Still R" through a concert at the Dakota. In the conversation with Jazz88's Sean McPherson Jacox discusses how he ended up playing with We Still R, his love of the Cuban people and more.

Drummer, bandleader and writer Brandon Commodore is no stranger to stages all across the world in his work with Stokley, The New Power Generation and more. But for Brandon's own musical development, no stage looms as large as the Dakota. This Monday he and his group NRG will grace the stage and Commodore has a lot to be excited about.

Harold López-Nussa is already out on the road and is ready to visit the Cedar Cultural Center on Wednesday November 15 for his debut performance at that venue. López-Nussa's new release is his first for Blue Note and it's garnering lots of acclaim for good reason; it's a reflection on his experiences, both joyous and melancholy, of leaving Cuba and moving with his family to France. Harold took some time out of his schedule to chat with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise about the record and about his experiences playing the music out on the road.

Nabaté Isles connected with Jazz88 in advance of his show this Sunday at Crooners. The show is titled "Jazz's Influence on Hip-Hop". Isles was quick to point out how his upbringing in NYC in the golden era of hip-hop involved his artistry and his understanding of music in general. Nabaté also shared the information on the distinguished group of players and guests that he'll have with him on Sunday.

The celebrated Twin Cities vocalist Kathleen Johnson is back onstage this weekend at the Capri Theater this weekend for Blue Gardenia. The show features three singers, Johnson, Thomasina Petrus and Patricia Lacy. The trio is navigating the songbooks of Etta James, Billie Holiday and Phyllis Hyman. Kathleen Johnson took the time to visit Jazz88 and discuss her connections to Etta James and her excitement about bringing the music to the stage this weekend.

LA Buckner and his Big HomiE project are preparing for another big show at the Dakota. This week he'll be bringing a special Halloween friendly program to the stage. When he visited Jazz88 he talked about this show and his recent experience playing with Big HomiE on stages that require different levels of restraint in regards to volume.

Dez, Rokkstar Savage and Glo visited the studios of Jazz88 to announce an exciting development for their podcast, 4theKulture. The 4theKulture podcast is presented by the Kulture Klub Collaborative. Glorius L. Martin, aka Glo, has been helping the team produce the podcast. And starting next week, you can hear the 4theKulture podcast on MPS Voices. Listen to hear more about this exciting new collaboration.

Vic Volare is preparing to throw his Monster Mash Birthday Bash on Halloween night over at the Granada Theater in Uptown Minneapolis. In regards to throwing a night of swinging music, this is not Volare's first rodeo. Vic Volare was at the epicenter of the swing dancing renaissance of the mid-90s here in the Twin Cities and has parlayed that into a career as an in-demand swingin' bandleader. Volare visited the studios of Jazz88 to discuss his long career playing swing music and to chat up his upcoming Halloween show at the Granada.

Craig Taborn was raised in the Twin Cities but set his sights on the East Coast early in his professional career. After cementing his status as a top-flight straight-ahead jazz player in the 1990s, Taborn has become one of the most inventive and forward thinking musicians in any genre. Although he is well-known for his work on synthesizers, Taborn will be performing a largely solo "bespoke" concert on acoustic piano at Icehouse on Tuesday, October 24.