Denny Laine Plays Band on the Run
May 6 | 7pm
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Denny is an original member of the Moody Blues and he sang the band’s first major hit single “Go Now” in 1964. After a few years, he left the Moody Blues to pursue his solo career managed by the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. Along with Paul & Linda McCartney, Laine is co founder of the band Wings, which was one of the most internationally successful bands of the 1970s. The band had 24 hit singles at the top of the charts and won a Grammy for their landmark album “Band on the Run.”
Rio Nido
June 2 | 7pm & 9pm
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Rio Nido is one of the Twin Cities’ most beloved vocal groups. The original trio of Tim Sparks, Prudence Johnson, and Tom Lieberman established themselves as ace performers, playing classic jazz from the 1930s and ’40s at the hottest spots in Minneapolis. After garnering regional attention and releasing several records between 1972 and 1986, the group disbanded, and each member has gone on to enjoy successful solo careers. Now they’re back together, reunited on the Dakota stage.
Graham Parker and Brinsley Schwartz
July 13 | 7pm
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Graham Parker has worked with guitarist Brinsley Schwarz since 1975 when they first met and rehearsed together in a band that became known as Graham Parker and The Rumour. Since then, Schwarz has often accompanied Parker on post-Rumour records and tours and recently joined him onstage as a duo playing songs from all areas of Parker’s career. Expect songs from early albums with the Rumour, his solo career and the present day with tunes from the two latest Rumour reunion albums, “Three Chords Good” and “Mystery Glue.”
Pharoah Sanders
July 26-27 | 7 and 9pm
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Emerging from John Coltrane’s groups of the mid-1960s, Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone. jazz. Harmonically rich and heavy with overtones, Sanders’ sound can be as raw and abrasive as it is possible for a saxophonist to produce. Yet, Sanders is highly regarded to the point of reverence by a great many jazz fans. Although he made his name with expressionistic, nearly anarchic free jazz in John Coltrane’s late ensembles of the mid-’60s, Sanders’ later music is guided by more graceful concerns.
Cyrille Aimee
August 8 | 7pm
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Raised in France by a French-Dominican parentage, Cyrille Aimee fell in love with gypsy music and way of life at an early age. She now happily tours the world with her band as well as in a duo setting with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo. Aimée’s talents also recently caught the attention of Stephen Sondheim, who cast her in an Encores Special Presentation starring Bernadette Peters at New York City’s City Center in November 2013. Said the New York Daily News, “Aimée is the revelation. This French jazz singer’s voice has so much character that all her songs fly.”
Luther Dickinson and The Collaborator
feat. Sharde Thomas and Amy Lavere
August 22 | 7pm
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Luther Dickinson brings his newest, mostly acoustic project Blues and Ballads through Minneapolis. The project features Dickinson’s voice and guitar, with support from Amy LaVere on bass and Sharde Thomas on drums, fife and vocals. Their influences are clear, from iconic fife man Otha Turner (Sharde Thomas is Turner’s granddaughter), Luther’s own piano-playing grandmother, his dad, and so many of his North Mississippi musician friends resound. This unique blending of sounds can only be described as ‘Acoustic Folk-Rock-Country Blues’. Make no mistake; this is the real stuff.
Dr. Lonnie Smith
August 30 | 7pm
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Dr. Lonnie Smith is an unparalleled musician, composer, performer and recording artist. An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B-3 organ for over five decades, he has been featured on over seventy albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of the greatest jazz, blues and R&B giants in the industry. Consequently, he has often been hailed as a “Legend,” a “Living Musical Icon,” and as the most creative jazz organist by a slew of music publications. Jazz Times magazine describes him as “a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a turban!” Always ahead of the curve, it is no surprise Dr. Smith’s fan-base is truly worldwide.