© Howard A. Gitelson

Valve trombonist and euphoniumist Brad Bellows attended  Berklee School of Music in Boston and has been a professional musician for  over 30 years. He is probably best known as the founder of the Locally Damaging  Winds, the Midwest's preeminent jazz trombone  quartet, which brings together the finest trombone talent in town. Brad has also released a duo CD with guitarist Dean Granros called “Bear's  Delight” and his current project "Valves meet Slide" is a 2 trombone based quintet with trombonist Dave Graf that performs regularly at the Artist's Quarter. 

Dave Graf is of the most versatile and talented trombonists in the Twin Cities, Dave has worked in a wide range of musical settings: Dixieland, straight ahead jazz, salsa and Brazilian music, big bands, pit orchestras and recordings. He  has preformed with Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Jack McDuff, the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band, and the Woody Herman Orchestra. He has appeared on Prairie Home Companion and with the St. Paul Ragtime Orchestra, Mandala, and the Steve Wright Big Band. Dave had an eleven-year association with the late trumpeter Red Wolfe in his Port of Dixie Jazz Band and Ellington Echo's (now led by  Percy Hughes). Dave also performs with the Latin ensemble Salsa Del Soul.

Check out this video of the Brad Bellows/Dave Graf quintet or this video with Lucia Newell.

Read Pamela Espeland's write-up of this event in Minnpost.com .

Trumpeter Jon Pemberton can't be confined to any musical box.  He is a veteran of bands like ska/jazzers Skatet, Shangoya, guitarist Paul Renz's quintet and his own Pembertones.  He has appeared on local releases including George Avaloz’s The Highest Mountain, and created a riveting tribute to Lee Morgan.  The quintet features Jon Pemberton on trumpet with Jim Marentic on sax, Dean Granroson  guitar, Tom Lewison  bass, and  Kenny Horst on drums. For this new group, Pemberton has written some new music. They'll be doing some adventurous stuff as well as some off the beaten track classics.

The Phil Hey Quartet features Dave Hagedorn on vibes, Phil Aaron on piano, Tom Lewis on bass and Phil on drums and has been an Artists' Quarter favorite for the past 6 years. No surprise really. This is a no-nonsense, uncompromising band of local jazz greats regularly performing the tunes of Kenny Wheeler, Bobby Hutcherson, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter and others.   Over the years they have attracted a loyal following of hardcore jazz fans and students who show up on the monthly Thursday night when they perform.  Check out this video of the PHQ doing Don Cherry's Mopti, this video featuring Dave Hagedorn on Frankenstein , or this one of the PHQ performing "I'm Old Fashioned" .