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

Larry McDonough Quartet

Larry McDonough, piano and vocals
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Greg Stinson, bass
Dean White, drums

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The Larry McDonough Quartet celebrates the two recordings of legendary pianist and composer Bill Evans and vocalist Tony Bennett. Bill Evans rarely performed with singers, so it was big news to some in the jazz community when Evans and Bennett recorded and released “The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album” in 1975. The album included pieces each had done separately, such as Waltz for Debby (Evans) and The Touch of Your Lips (Bennett). In 1976 they recorded “Together Again” for release in 1977.

Both albums showed Evans’ skill in accompanying a vocalist while adding the complexities that he displayed in his solo and ensemble performances, and exhibited Bennett’s expressive range from bold and commanding to soft and delicate. Unfortunately, the albums flew under the radar screen of the larger jazz scene with the popularity of the jazz fusion of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Miles Davis, and John McLaughlin.

This is not a traditional “tribute” show where musicians imitate great artists. No one sings like Bennett and no one plays like Evans. Each piece they recorded together will be presented with beginnings similar to the recorded versions, but where they go from there cannot be predicted.

Larry takes on the challenging roles of both Evans and Bennett to educate younger listeners about these great artists and to remind seasoned listeners of this pair who never recorded together again. Evans died in 1980. Tony Bennett is 96 years old and lives in New York City.

Joining Larry are sax player and award-winning poet Richard Terrill, bassist Greg Stinson, and drummer Dean White. In the first set, they perform a sample of pieces from the two albums, each beginning with just voice and piano and other members of the ensemble joining through the piece. Selections will include The Touch of Your Lips, Some Other Time, My Foolish Heart, Waltz for Debby, Make Someone Happy, You Don’t Know What Love Is, You’re Nearer, and You Must Believe in Spring.

In the second set, they add pieces that Evans and Bennett recorded separately but never together, including We Will Meet Again, Detour Ahead, I’ll Be Seeing You, and I Will Say Goodbye. Perhaps Evans and Bennett would have recorded these songs together if Evans had lived longer.

Richard Terrill adds poetry about Bill Evans.

In “You Must Believe in Spring,” you hear what Evans and Bennett did and what might have been.

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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.

The Larry McDonough Quartet Official Website

Music 8-10

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