
Good news! The Twin Cities Jazz Festival returns with more live jazz next month in a familiar place, but a different month. Headlining performances are scheduled by pianist Kenny Barron and his trio, pianist Emmett Cohen featuring saxophonist Patrick Bartley, and trombonist and NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis and his quintet.
The festival takes place back in its regular location Mears Park on September 17 and 18. For more information visit, www.twincitiesjazzfestival.com.
Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, who is no stranger to the Twin Cities, has a new Blue Note release âAbsence.â It honors saxophone and composer legend Wayne Shorter. Itâs available on Aug 27 www.bluenote.com.
With the new album, Blanchard performs with the E-Collective, featuring guitarist Charles Altura, pianist Fabian Almazan, drummer Oscar Seaton, bassist David Ginyard; and the Turtle Island Quartet with violinist and artistic director David Balakrishnan; plus violinist Benjamin von Gutzeit, violist Gabe Terracciano and cellist Malcolm Parson.
âAbsenceâ includes original work by Blanchard and members of his band as well as pieces written by Shorter.
Blanchard told Jazzfmâs Adam Feibel, âIâm proud to have a chance to visit some of the music that has shaped my musical identity. Pairing Wayne Shorterâs music with original works from the E-Collective along with the sonic colors of the Turtle Island Quartet has been an amazing experience. Wayne has said before, âJazz means, I dare you,â so why not dare to be creative and pay homage at the same time?â
Blanchardâs opera âFire Shut Up in My Bonesâ is set to open the 2021-22 season of the Metropolitan Opera in New York on Sept. 27 and will make it the first opera by a Black composer in the organizationâs 136-year history.

Blanchard has already won five Grammy Awards and earned two Oscar nominations for his collaborations with filmmaker Spike Lee.
Alto saxophonist and composer Kenny Garrett, who hasnât been to the Twin Cities in a minute, also has a new release out now entitled, âSounds from the Ancestorsâ from Mack Avenue (www.mackavenue.com).
âSounds from the Ancestorsâ acknowledges the likes of Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, while examining the roots of West African music in the spectrum of jazz, gospel, Motown, hip hop, and all other genres that have descended from jĂčjĂș and Yoruban music, according to Garrett.
âItâs crucial to acknowledge the ancestral roots in the sounds weâve inhabited under the aesthetics of Western music,â said Garrett.
âSounds from the Ancestorsâ not only is a reflection of jazz, and R&B but is also a gospel history of his hometown of Detroit. There is also the inclusion of music from France, Cuba, Nigeria, and Guadeloupe.
âThe concept initially was about trying to get some of the musical sounds that I remembered as a kid growing upâsounds that lift your spirit from people like John Coltrane, âA Love Supreme;â Aretha Franklin, âAmazing Grace;â Marvin Gaye, âWhatâs Going On;â and the spiritual side of the church,â Garrett explained in an album press release. âWhen I started to think about them, I realized it was the spirit from my ancestors,â Garrett said.
Musicians on âSounds from the Ancestorsâ include those Garrett has toured and recorded with over recent years. They are pianist Vernell Brown, Jr., bassist Corcoran Holt, drummer Ronald Bruner, and percussionist Rudy Bird.
The album also features guest appearances from drummer Lenny White, pianist and organist Johnny Mercier, trumpeter Maurice Brown, conguero Pedrito Martinez, batĂĄ percussionist Dreiser Durruthy and singers Dwight Trible, Jean Baylor, Linny Smith, Chris Ashley Anthony, and Sheherazade Holman. On the album, Garrett also plays a little piano and sings.