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A 2008 booking at Joe’s Pub in NYC resulted in a New York Times review that embraced both Happy Apple’s music and their iconoclastic humor.  Writer Ben Ratliff proclaimed, “Funny as the men were to watch, this was one of the most serious groups I’ve ever seen.”  Their recent (and seventh) CD release, Happy Apple Back on Top (Sunnyside Records), is a first-class, category-defying platter from the Twin Cities band with the international fan base.  Dave King (The Bad Plus) (drums), Michael Lewis (Fat Kid Wednesdays) (sax) and Erik Fratzke (Zebulon Pike) (bass).

In 2004, Bryan Nichols was selected to be a resident at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as part of Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead, a highly selective program for promising young jazz artists and composers. 2005 saw him traveling to Paris, France to perform at the Sons d'Hiver Festival, as well as Kerava, Finland, for the Kerava Jazz Festival. He has played with some of the world's finest musicians, including Anthony Cox, Steve Cole, Ernest Dawkins, Von Freeman, David Boykin, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Oliver Lake, Dave King (of the Bad Plus) and Maurice Brown.

Inventive and swinging bassist Adam Linz has a Bachelor of Music degree from the William Paterson University Jazz Studies Program and is now on the faculty at MacPhail.  He has taught at Music Tech, Mars Music and at the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth.  He is an active performer in the Twin Cities in various creative music ensembles iincluding Fat Kid Wednesdays. 

Phil Hey is a hard bop beat keeper with the power of a prizefighter, in that elegant Ali style that incorporates grace and cunning. Named "Best Jazz Artist" of 2006 by City Pages, Phil was raised in the jazz drumming factory that is Philadelphia. His road work with the likes of Jay McShann, Dewey Redman and Benny Golson says a lot about the esteem he has gathered.

Check out this video of this amazing trio playing "Blame it on my Youth" at the Artists' Quarter on April 11th, 2009: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng4oKm9IDa0

 An early set at 7 p.m. features "The Tesfa Quintet" with Dejen Tesfagiorgis on Saxophones, Adam Meckler on Trumpet, Jesse Mueller on Piano, Adam Tucker on Bass, and Jaky Nyberg on Drums. Check out this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4khzBPcgo24

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 these videos clips from recent AQ performances:  "Mahjong",   "Equinox", and "Questar".