the Artists' Quarter

Kenny Horst interviewed at KJ's Hideaway; Pat Mallinger Quartet December 29th

Kenny Horst was interviewed for KJ's Live, a Facebook live video feature from KJ's Hideaway, on Tuesday, December 21st. Here's video:

Kenny shared a couple of cool jazz stories from the AQ (and of meeting Roy Haynes) and let everybody know about his upcoming gig with the Pat Mallinger Quartet.

Speaking of that: The Pat Mallinger Quartet (with Kenny Horst on drums) is coming to KJ's Hideaway (the old Artists' Quarter space) at 408 St. Peter St. (the Hamm Building) in St. Paul on Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at 9:00 pm! For more information, check out this week's email newsletter.

The email list is back!

Hey! The club may be closed but the email list active once again. If you'd care to sign up, we'll send an email once or twice a month with thoughts on jazz new or old, or info an upcoming show we think you shouldn't miss, or maybe share a review of a new album you might want to buy, or an occasional digression into the history of the Artists' Quarter or jazz. Want to join us? Enter your email address here.

Rest in Peace, Davis Wilson

Our good friend Davis Wilson died peacefully in his sleep on January 28, 2021. He will be missed by so many. More from Jazz Police. Our 2006 interview with Davis. Meet Davis Wilson from "All About Jazz."

Remembering Gary Berg

We're very saddened to hear of Gary Berg's recent passing. Gary was a fantastic saxophonist, a pretty good MTC bus driver, and spent many nights sharing his love of good music with the patrons of the Artists' Quarter. We will miss him immensely.

Rest in Peace, Peter Schimke

We're very saddened to hear of the recent passing of pianist Peter Schimke. He was a fantastic genre-defying musician known and loved by so many folks. So many wonderful nights of fantastic music at the AQ were driven by his piano playing. He will be missed.

KBEM-FM Jazz 88 has posted a tribute to Peter here.

Here's his obituary from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Here's the song "Gorilla" from the 2004 "How Birds Work" album, featuring Peter on piano and vocals.

Remembering Larry Englund

Larry Englund left us on Saturday February 2, 2019, at the age of 73, after lengthy treatments for stomach cancer. He is survived by Liz, his loving wife of 23 years. (For more information, check out Minnpost, StarTribune, and Pioneer Press articles celebrating Larry's life and legacy.)

Jon Bream of the Minneapolis Star Tribune called Larry "a bit of a character on the Twin Cities music scene." And that he was. A DJ, writer, and fan of music, as well. And a really nice guy, who put up with me not remembering his name for probably the first ten times I met him. He also wrote and published his own obituary, which I am now sharing below, as his website has succumbed to entropy, as all things digital eventually do. -- Al Iverson, May 2020

Fantastic pianist (and long time friend of the AQ) Chris Lomheim has a great new website at chrislomheim.com where you can keep up with his gig calendar, find info about his "hangouts" (the most common places he plays nowadays) and buy his albums on CD or via iTunes. Check it out!

Here's a great Youtube clip of Chris with the Dave Karr Quartet in 2009 at the club, playing Relaxin' at Camarillo.

Sad to see: McNally Smith Closure

Those of us associated with the Artists' Quarter are saddened to hear of the sudden and unexpected closing of the McNally Smith College of Music. Our hearts go out to the students and faculty forced to figure out how to pay their bills and move forward. We wish them all good luck and good fortune.

Click here to read more on the closure from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.