Celebrated Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg is making her way to the Twin Cities for a show at Crooners on Thursday, October 17. Eeg was nice enough to hop on the phone with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise to talk about her upcoming performance at Crooners and about how she approaches singing with different size groups!

Obi Original is an accomplished musician/composer and vocalist. Obi agreed to come by to discuss one of his musical heroes, Fela Kuti. Fela was born October 15, 1938 and he, alongside his drummer Tony Allen, is recognized as one of the architects of the Afrobeat genre. Listen in to hear Obi Original's reflections on Fela's influence and importance.

The internationally acclaimed vocalist Samarth Nagarkar is bringing his Khayal Ensemble to MacPhail for a performance on Saturday October 12. In advance of the concert Mr. Nagarkar and Michael Cain, the Director of Electronic Music Recording Arts at MacPhail connected with Jazz88 via ZOOM to discuss the concert, the improvisational traditions of North Hindustani music and the connections to jazz and other aural/oral traditions around the globe.

Joel Shapira is always out there playing. He's out playing in town four or five times a week. But behind the scenes Shapira is always working on his own material. Joel came through the Jazz88 studios to discuss his new record "Sleepless Montage" and the release party coming up on Thursday, October 3 at Berlin in Minneapolis.

Violinist Ernest Bisong from Walker-West visited Jazz88 to talk about the new season of the Rondo Community Music Series. The series launches this Saturday (9/28) and rolls through to May with concerts from Kavyesh Kaviraj, Kevin Washington and RA Spirit, Katia Cardenas, Trio Zenia and more. Bisong shared his philosophy for recruiting the right artists, keeping the series accessible and involving workshops and panel discussions into the offerings.

Drummer and bandleader L.A. Buckner lovingly describes fellow drummer/bandleader Brandon Commodore as the "big homie". These two great drummers and bandleaders have years of history and the love will come through loud and clear on Saturday at Crooners when they share a bill. In their visit with Jazz88 Commodore pointed out that not only is it great to see two drummer/bandleaders sharing a bill but also pointed out that seeing two Black drummers who both hail from Minneapolis sharing a bill together is a beautiful thing. Listen to hear more about these dynamic players, their bass drum preferences and the range of emotions they share on stage with their groups BiG HoMiE (Buckner) and NRG (Commodore).

Voz En Punto, the wildly talented acapella group out of Mexico City visited Jazz88 on Monday September 16. It was a beautiful coincidence that the group was visiting on Mexican Independence Day. Voz En Punto is visiting the Twin Cities in partnership with VocalEssence. The group talked about their thirty plus year history and performed two songs: Tilingolingo and La Negra.

Trombonist Dave Graf has been a fixture in the Twin Cities jazz scene for decades but he spends most of his time behind the scenes. That changes on Sunday when he steps out on the Crooners Main Stage leading a band that includes Jennifer Grimm (voice), Phil Hey (drums), Doug Haining (sax), Mary Louise Knutson (piano) and Matt Peterson (bass). Graf took the time to connect with Jazz88 to discuss his lengthy career and his approach to presenting his own music. Dave even stuck around to play a little jazz trivia!

Vocalist extraordinaire Samara Joy is coming to the Ordway on Saturday September 14. During a break in her schedule Samara Joy connected with Sean McPherson to discuss her technique for picking songs, her quick rise to become one of the biggest names in the world of jazz and her love of ensemble singing.

Celebrated vocalist Ashley DuBose took some time out of her day to chat about her songs, her love of jazz and her upcoming performance at the Selby Ave JazzFest on Saturday, September 14 in Saint Paul.