With subzero temps and windchills to start the weekend, hot music is a sure antidote, and there’s plenty of it around the Metro. Contributing some of the heat– veterans like Eric Gravatt, Larry McDonough, and Laura Caviani; young guns like Jack Courtright and Will Schmid; and special events like the Twin Cities Bass Camp Winter Workshop.
Big Gigs This Week
Friday, January 6. There’s no age limit at Jazz Central, in the audience or on stage. The Master’s show presents Weather Report alum Eric Kamau Gravatt and his Source Code– a hard-firing post bop band usually featuring Solomon Parham, Dean Magraw and Ron Evaniuk. They’re followed in the young lions’ late night slot by a stellar quartet led by trombonist Jack Courtright–now in his second year at Eastman School of Music. Last spring he won the 2016 Carl Fontana International Trombone Competition. His pals are similarly talented college students–guitarist Will Schmid (Case Western Reserve University), bassist Charlie Lincoln (Berklee College of Music) and drummer Ben Ehrlich (University of North Texas) — all have been heard in multiple contexts over the past two weeks as winter break seems to double the size of the Twin Cities jazz scene. Read more!
