#jtbates

3/6/2015 at Jazz Central (407 Central Avenue Southeast, Minneapolis, MN 55414)  I saw JT Bates B3 Organ Trio, and for a relatively new venture with Zacc Harris on Guitar and Kevin Gastonguay playing the B3 Organ JT of course, was manning drums), they were in sync with each other throughout the night.  Bringing in some more modern freer influences, the overall vibe stayed within the classic organ trio vibe both funky and swinging.  JT is definitely a unique (and fantastic) drummer and brings interesting ideas to his playing consistently.  Zacc Harris has developed his own voice in a Pat Martino-influenced style.  Kevin Gastonguay brings a timeless-styled playing, that has great groove and interesting solos, to the proceedings to make for a very enjoyable night with a set that mixed originals with standards

3/10/2015 (Monday nights are JTs Jazz Implosion at the Icehouse)  I saw two wonderful and interesting bands featuring the great Dean Granros on guitar. The first set featured '58 Belvedere with Dave Power and Jordan Jenkins they were a band that was a little more outside/in, with the focus being on the angular guitar playing of Dean.  The drummer set a deep pocket while the bass blayer made full use of his upright and turned in some outstanding solos as well.  The second set featured Tall Tales Jay Epstein (drums) Chris Bates (bass) and Zacc Harris (guitar) playing with Dean.  This band was a little more inside/out and the dual guitar leads led to some great interplay while Jay and Chris both  laid the foundation for an interesting journey for the players to navigate. I have information that there may be an album in the future for Tall Tales. 

Besides for watching out for these bands, if you are looking for jazz in the Twin Cities, certainly there is the Dakota, but typically from Monday-Saturday you'll be able to hear high quality musicians at Jazz Central (shows usually start at 7:30 or 8:30, admission is a suggested donation), and JT Bates always books high quality jazz at the Icehouse every Monday night.  There are a lot of great jazz musicians in the city and they play at a lot of venues, but here are a couple places that (given the night) you know you can see something interesting.

The Icehouse 2528 Nicollet Avenue South Minneapolis, Mn 55404