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PREVIEW: JazzMN’s Holiday Show (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres)

by Twin Cities Arts Reader -

The JazzMN Orchestra will play its annual holiday concert at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres on December 13.

Around the Twin Cities, households are stocking up on turkeys, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin, and other fall foods. Thanksgiving feasts are just around the corner, which by all predictions will bring many long-separated families back together. Whether by plane, train, car, or bus, people are coming home for the holidays this year.

How to celebrate the holidays under these peculiar circumstances continues to be a personal and household decision. For many families, however, adults are now getting triply vaccinated and all but the smallest of toddlers can join the COVID-19 vaccination club. Holiday outings – indoors and out – are back on the menu.

One way to celebrate the holidays and whole-family vaccination is to head out to dinner. Another is to catch a concert as a family. You do can both on Monday, December 13, when the acclaimed JazzMN Orchestra celebrates its full return to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres with its popular jazzy holiday concert, “Home for the Holiday”.

“But,” you might say. “I’m not in the mood for some experimental jazz punk atonal hybrid performance art right now. I kind of like being able to eat while watching shows. And some members of the household don’t have the bladder endurance they used to.” Not to worry: CDT has you covered. Patrons can purchase concert-only tickets for $40, or add dinner for an additional $18 per person. And if Grandma (or little Joey, or, really, anyone) must, they can always slip quietly off to the restroom and then back to their seat without having to wait until intermission.

The musical program for the evening consists of classic holiday hits, including in arrangements for Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, plus a few rarer treats from Count Basie and Duke Ellington. There will also be some new takes on old favorites like “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”, and “What Child Is This.”

Joining the orchestra for the evening is Lila Ammons, a versatile and multi-talented singer whose career crosses concert halls and jazz clubs. The granddaughter of pianist Albert Ammons and niece of saxophonist Gene Ammons, Lila Ammons has gained toured Europe and Brazil singing classic blues with German pianist Axel Zwingenberger. She was a featured vocalist with the ABC&D of Boogie Woogie Quartet with Zwingenberger and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, and has toured as a jazz soloist in England, Spain, and Ireland.

Closer to home, Ammons has performed across Minnesota in recent years with the Lila Ammons Jazz Group. Ammons continues to attract new audiences with her nuanced vocal jazz narratives, a respect for jazz idioms, and an unpredictability that delights.

Vocalist Lila Ammons joins the JazzMN Orchestra in concert on December 13.

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Tickets can be purchased online at ChanhassenDT.com or through Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ box office at 952-934-1525. Dinner seating 5:30 pm; concert begins at 7:30 pm.

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