JazzMN Orchestra Celebrates the Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Orchestra

“This is pure jazz in all its glory” – WCCO JazzMN

Join the premiere big band in the Twin Cities, JazzMN Orchestra, for an unforgettable evening. This esteemed ensemble tackles blistering, swinging and innovative arrangements from the collection of the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra. Longtime JazzMN drummer Joe Pulice has been tapped as music director. Further, this promises to be another great concert with the band at the Dakota.  

The JazzMN Orchestra has presented over eighty concerts in its main series since its inception in 1999. Also, they make many additional performances at festivals around the Twin Cities. Moreover, the music performed by the JazzMN Orchestra spans from the beginnings of jazz to contemporary works by today’s composers. The Orchestra has featured international jazz artists like Randy Brecker, Kurt Elling, Mike Stern, Arturo Sandoval, Gordon Goodwin, Phil Woods, Nicholas Payton and Paquito D’Rivera.

Drummer Joe Pulice is one of the region’s elite percussionists. Also, he has played drums for the JazzMN Orchestra for over twenty years. Winner of the 1979 Northern Midwest Regional Louie Bellson/Slingerland Drum Contest, Joe earned three music degrees from the University of Minnesota. Then, he toured in Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd’s 50th anniversary tour in 1986. Joe has won two Minnesota Jazz Music Awards, and was a member of world-renowned drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt’s group Kamanari. Additionally, Pulice toured with Jack McDuff’s Heatin’ System and with vocalist Bernadette Peters.

Recommended for fans of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa.

LEARN MORE: https://jazzmn.org/