The Larry McDonough Aster Sunday Jazz Series presents classic jazz on the first Sunday of the month.

Come for the next show of the new Larry McDonough monthly Sunday classic jazz series. The Larry McDonough Quartet will perform one set of the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue and a second set of music of the members after Kind of Blue group, along with poetry about leaders Miles Davis and Bill Evans and sax man John Coltrane. We will celebrate the birthday of Miles Davis, born on May 26, 1926, in Alton, Illinois. It is the 64th year since the release and performance of the legendary album Kind of Blue.

Larry McDonough Quintet

Larry McDonough, piano
Josh May, trumpet
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Matt Senjem, bass
Dean White, drums

The Miles Davis album Kind of Blue has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz record, Davis’s masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. The album was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 14 in Colin Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).

The album features Davis’s ensemble sextet consisting of pianist Bill Evans, saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, with pianist Wynton Kelly appearing on one track in place of Evans. Kind of Blue was the first Davis album to include only original compositions, and to focus entirely on modality, departing further from his earlier work’s hard bop style of jazz. Evans is considered a co-author and

co-arranger along with Davis of some of the pieces.

They recorded the album on March 2 and April 22, 1959, released it on August 17, 1959, and toured performing the music in 1959 and 1960. During the tour, as a sign of the times, on August 25, 1959, Davis was assaulted and arrested by a New York City policeman. In January 1960, he was acquitted of disorderly conduct and third-degree assault.

Here are the Larry McDonough Sextet members and the chairs they are filling:

Larry McDonough, piano and arrangements (Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly);

Josh May, trumpet (Miles Davis);

Richard Terrill, saxs (John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley);

Matt Senjem, bass (Paul Chambers);

Dean White, drums (Jimmy Cobb).

In the first set, the group will feature a performance of all of the pieces from the recording: So What, Freddie Freeloader, Blue in Green, All Blues, and the rarely performed Flamenco Sketches. Larry’s arrangements follow the recording, but each member will interpret piece. In the second set, the group will perform the music of the Kind of Blue members after Kind of Blue. Minnesota Book Award winner Richard Terrill will read his poems about Miles Davis and Bill Evans.

Come for an evening of revolutionary jazz, poetry, and history.

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Larry McDonough Aster Sunday Jazz Series presents classic jazz on the first Sunday of the month. Past shows have covered the music of Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Tony Bennett, Bill Evans, and Larry McDonough. Future shows will include the music of Jim Hall and Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, and others, along with a Larry McDonough CD release. Stay tuned for more details!

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The Larry McDonough Quintet

Larry McDonough is an award-winning St. Paul jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. His awards include the American Composers Forum Showcase Award for the composition “Strait of Gibraltar.”

He has released eleven CDs and DVDs as a leader. His current CDs are “Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans,” playing on jazz radio stations and streaming services around the country, and “Intermodulating Undercurrents Live at the Kos: The Music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.” The two-CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures” has played on radio stations and streaming services around the world and charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. “Simple Gifts” reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and also has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world.

The Larry McDonough Quartet Official Website

Richard Terrill, sax player and retired Minnesota State University Mankato English Professor, received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry for his poetry compilation Coming Late to Rachmaninoff (University of Tampa Press, 2003). Richard has been performing with Larry McDonough since December 2001. He also has performed with guitarist Jim McGuire and with Chaz Draper’s Uptown Jazz Quartet. As a college student, Richard was a member of the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble and performed with later-to-be Pat Metheny keyboardist Lyle Mays in the Lyle Mays Quartet, winner of small group honors at the Midwest College Jazz Festival. He has also worked with pianist Geoff Keezer. His current books of poetry is What Falls Away Is Always and Essentially.

Richard Terrill Official Website

Bassist Greg Stinson plays in several bands around the Twin Cities. He has been the bass player in the Century College Jazz Ensemble for more than 25 years. He also plays in the CC Septet, Shorn Hortz Quintet, Paul Berger Trio, the St. Croix Jazz Ensemble, and regularly subs with the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Classic Big Band, and Cedar Avenue Big Band. Greg spent many years playing saxophones, guitar, bass, and vocals in jazz/rock and variety bands in the area. He is an active composer/arranger with jazz charts in the books of the Century Band, Nova, CC Septet, and others. He has also written a number of choral arrangements and compositions for school and church groups.

Dean White grew up in Superior, Wisconsin, and played in various working bands while attending the University of Wisconsin, Superior. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in percussion performance, he moved to Hollywood, California, to attend Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music. Half-way through the first year, Dean was offered a main showroom gig at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. He was the first drummer in the Legends In Concert Show that still performs in various incarnations across the country today. He left Las Vegas to join Tony Axtell and Toshi Hinata in Tokyo to write and play original music. Since settling back in the Twin Cities, Dean has performed with many groups, including Good, the Bad and the Funky; the Autobody Experience; Century Big Band; Nova Jazz; Big Time Jazz Orchestra; the Shorn Hortz jazz quintet; Power of 10; Jack Knife and the Sharps; Tubby Esquire; Hennessy Brothers jazz; and many others. He has also studied privately with Gordy Knudtson and his Open/Close hand technique. Dean feels blessed to be part of the rich music scene in the Twin Cities.

Music 8-10

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