A publicity photo of jazz master Kenny Barron. Photo by Philippe Lévy-Stab. It has been a great week in the area for jazz piano, with Cyrus Chestnut leading a trio last week at Vieux Carre and Kenny Barron giving a magnificent solo performance last night at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club's Dunsmore

The Cyrus Chestnut Trio featuring Buster Williams and Lenny White. Photo courtesy of the AMI Agency. Some consider Cyrus Chestnut the finest jazz pianist of this generation. Without a doubt, he is one of the most entertaining; last evening at Vieux Carré, he arrived boosted by two excellent recent albums (2017's There’s

A promotional photo of Jerry Lee Lewis in concert. Jerry Lee Lewis, nicknamed “The Killer,” is – without question – one of the most important figures in rock-and-roll history. He was inducted in the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. His rockabilly sound, combined with

A promotional photo for Little River Band, which performed at Buck Hill in Burnsville, MN on July 13, 2018. The opening act of last evening’s concert at Buck Hill was “Transit Authority – Tribute to Chicago.” (For those of us old enough to remember, the band Chicago’s original full name was “Chicago

A promotional photo of ZZ Top sporting their trademark beards. For a few years at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), was the most popular rock band in the United States. With John Fogerty as lead singer and primary songwriter, CCR was a band

A promotional photo of jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Last night, the trumpeter Arturo Sandoval played at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. Over the course of the evening, he showcased his versatility in a performance filled with the charisma that attracts top-quality stars to his recording albums. Sandoval's new album Ultimate Duets!

A promotional photo of The Steeles, one of the Twin Cities' most legendary music families. The Steeles – J.D., Fred, Jearlyn, Jevetta, and Billy Steele – are a musical family ensemble of five (of six) siblings who grew up in Gary, Indiana. Each made their eventual way to Minnesota; having grown

Steve Winwood at the piano. Fifty-five years ago, Steve Winwood joined Spencer Davis and Steve’s brother Muff to form the Spencer Davis Group. Word soon spread, and established musicians from London like Eric Clapton traveled up to see this Birmingham teenager who had a voice like Ray Charles. The Spencer Davis group

A photo collage of jazz musician Stanley Jordan and his recent album covers. No one sounds like Stanley Jordan. He famously plays with both hands on the guitar fretboard, as though he were playing piano keys. As he explains it, this “touch tapping” or “touch technique” allows him to bring the

A publicity photo showing jazz master Ramsey Lewis. Ramsey Lewis comes from a different time. It was a time when musicians produced record albums. He has had something like 80 of them (that is not a misprint: 80), going back to “Ramsey Lewis and the Gentlemen of Swing,” over 60 years