Jazz

“One of jazz piano’s most brazenly virtuosic players.” – New York Times   Jazz piano phenomenon Hiromi has seamlessly shifted from one spellbinding project to the next in her two decade-plus recording career. In the process, she’s earned a reputation as one of the most explosive live performers in jazz history. Furthermore, she has become a global ambassador for the art form. Her many triumphs include an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that has racked up 2 million views. She also had the opportunity to represent her native Japan with a performance at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She won the 2024 Best Music Score for the animated feature film Blue Giant (Award of the Japanese Academy). Finally, a Grammy award for a collaboration with fusion hero Stanley Clarke. Her artistry is — to borrow a descriptor The New Yorker favored — “dazzling.” She released Sonicwonderland in 2023, debuting perhaps the most expressive, dynamic and versatile working band of her career. Featuring Hadrien Feraud on bass, Gene Coye on drums and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the group furthered Hiromi’s distinctive musical alchemy. Here, she melds the spirit of classic jazz-rock fusion with classically rooted virtuosity, entrancing funk, pop flourishes and, through O’Farrill’s trumpet, acoustic jazz’s state of the art. The album also did a remarkable job of capturing Hiromi’s mastery as a live entertainer. As The Guardian noted, “Sonicwonderland is perhaps the closest thing to Hiromi’s onstage exuberance.” But that was only the beginning. Sonicwonder has continued to tour and work together consistently, advancing their deep chemistry and fearless sense of interplay. The results can be heard on Hiromi’s new album, 2025’s Out There. Here, the group’s powerful rapport meets the pianist’s astonishing abilities as a composer on equal footing. Recommended for fans of Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report. 📸: Mitsuru Nishimura

“One of jazz piano’s most brazenly virtuosic players.” – New York Times   Jazz piano phenomenon Hiromi has seamlessly shifted from one spellbinding project to the next in her two decade-plus recording career. In the process, she’s earned a reputation as one of the most explosive live performers in jazz history. Furthermore, she has become a global ambassador for the art form. Her many triumphs include an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that has racked up 2 million views. She also had the opportunity to represent her native Japan with a performance at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She won the 2024 Best Music Score for the animated feature film Blue Giant (Award of the Japanese Academy). Finally, a Grammy award for a collaboration with fusion hero Stanley Clarke. Her artistry is — to borrow a descriptor The New Yorker favored — “dazzling.” She released Sonicwonderland in 2023, debuting perhaps the most expressive, dynamic and versatile working band of her career. Featuring Hadrien Feraud on bass, Gene Coye on drums and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the group furthered Hiromi’s distinctive musical alchemy. Here, she melds the spirit of classic jazz-rock fusion with classically rooted virtuosity, entrancing funk, pop flourishes and, through O’Farrill’s trumpet, acoustic jazz’s state of the art. The album also did a remarkable job of capturing Hiromi’s mastery as a live entertainer. As The Guardian noted, “Sonicwonderland is perhaps the closest thing to Hiromi’s onstage exuberance.” But that was only the beginning. Sonicwonder has continued to tour and work together consistently, advancing their deep chemistry and fearless sense of interplay. The results can be heard on Hiromi’s new album, 2025’s Out There. Here, the group’s powerful rapport meets the pianist’s astonishing abilities as a composer on equal footing. Recommended for fans of Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report. 📸: Mitsuru Nishimura

“flawlessly replicate the sound of classic New Orleans” — Prairie Uprising   Southside Aces are celebrating twenty years of performing the repertoire of the Jazz Age greats and beyond. From the early New Orleans of Jelly Roll Morton to the world-changing joys of Louis Armstrong. The barrel house sounds of Preservation Hall to the Crescent City rhythms of rock and roll pioneer Fats Domino. Treat yourself to a century’s worth of New Orleans jazz.  The band first began as the brainchild of clarinetist Tony Balluff and sousaphone player Erik Jacobson. Their whispers and rumors materialized in Tony’s foyer in South Minneapolis, in August 2003. Since their first gig on a flatbed truck in Apple Valley, the Aces have released eight albums, including their most recent —2022’s Minneapolis Bump— fifteen original songs inspired by the Jazz Age. In New Orleans, the jazz tradition thrives off a wide array of styles. The Aces possess a diverse repertoire, with a roll call that includes the names of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, and Bix Beiderbecke. Plus Crescent City classics like “Bourbon Street Parade”, “Just A Closer Walk With Thee”, and “St. James Infirmary”. And let’s not forget the funky rhythms of brass band powerhouses like “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” and “Palm Court Strut”! The Southside Aces have performed at Dakota, Icehouse, Crooners Supper Club, Vieux Carre, Twin Cities Jazz Fest, Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival, and Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest, to name a few. They’ve driven dancers to a frenzy at national dance competitions and led second-line parades through the streets of the Twin Cities. And they’ve played events in Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Des Moines, and all across the great state of Minnesota — which, if you’re keeping score, makes them a “territory band.”  Recommended for fans of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Tuba Skinny, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. 📸: Paul Udstrand