Look below, and you will see many mentions of a "Twin Cities Jazz Festival." As always, this year’s fest is centered on Mears Park in Lowertown, with multiple St. Paul venues in the area (including the Apostle Supper Club and Metronome Brewery) and a bit further flung (such as Mancini’s and Papa Legba Lounge) also participating. And it’s all free. (I’m restraining myself from making another “free jazz” joke this year.)
Tuesday, June 18
Solstice Shindig feat. Mean Magic with the Customers, Edith Head, & Shrimp Olympics @ Amsterdam
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Toredoria, Despondent, Andrew Jansen, Riddle M @ Eagles 34
The Mubbla Buggs @ Father Hennepin Park
Tricksy (June Residency) Western Night @ Green Room
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Waar Party, Silent Halo, Switching Fields @ Pilllar Forum
Local Showcase @ ROK Music Lounge
Artist Showcase hosted by Open Mic MPLS @ Sociable Cider Werks
Billy Allen and The Pollies with Burning Blue Rain @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Becky Kapell @ 331 Club
June Conspiracy Series featuring Paul Lawrence, Nick Foytik @ 331 Club
Nourished By Time with urika's bedroom @ Turf Club
Connie Evingson, Joan Griffith, & Mary Louise Knutson @ The Woman's Club of Minneapolis
The New Halvoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Anothernight (Residency) with Superior Siren, Laura Hugo @ White Squirrel
- Janet Jackson with Nelly @ Xcel Energy Center—When I caught Janet at Treasure Island in 2019, she delivered the hits and hadn’t lost a step as a dancer; folks who caught the “Together Again” tour when it first passed through the Xcel last May were even more enthusiastic about her performance. It’s a true career retrospective, packing in 40 songs, including a few deeper cuts and club-forward remixes. Though only dummies ever doubted her place near the center of late 20th century pop, it’s great to see Janet Jackson’s legacy increasingly acknowledged. If nothing else, this show seems to be outselling Justin Timberlake’s Xcel gig on Halloween.
Wednesday, June 19
Ted Olsen Quartet + Hemma @ Aster Cafe
Michael Sherwood @ The Commons
Kijana Gant: Sam Cooke Classics @ Crooners
Steve Kenny Quartet & Le Percheron @ Crooners
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Soul of the Southside Juneteenth Festival @ Hook and Ladder
JCS @ JCS Collaborations @ Jazz Central
Medalist Concert Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Eleganza @ Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
Steve Daly & His LXG Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Dr. Mambo's Combo @ Parkway Theater
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Queef Jerky with Godly the Ruler @ 7th St Entry
Breakers Paradise @ Terminal Bar
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with John Kurtis Dehn @ 331 Club
From Indian Lakes with Dirt Buyer and 12th House Sun @ Turf Club
HIRS Collective with Careful Gaze & Daisycutter @ Underground Music Venue
Southpaw, Soulsdeathcult, Dread, Fathom, Errors of Humanity, Defiled Sacrament @ White Rock Lounge
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
Wu Wednesdays @ White Squirrel
Car Spiders, King Sized Coffin, Dingus @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, June 20
Arrows In Action, Sad Alex, Elliot Lee @ Amsterdam
Maurice Jacox with Jon Weber @ Apostle Supper Club
Katie Burton @ Bryant Square Park
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Bugsy, Scarlet Demore, Lana Leone, Rigby @ Cloudland
Bryan Eng (Album Release) @ Crooners
Sue Scott's Island of Discarded Women with Rose McGee and Favourite Girl @ Crooners
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
The Spill Canvas with Punchline and Thomas Nicholas Band @ Fine Line
Jeremy Messersmith with Anna Graves @ Hook and Ladder
Darnell Davis & The Remnant with DJ Willie Adams @ Icehouse
The New Standards with Laamar @ Mears Park
The Peter Kogan Quintet @ Metronome Brewery
Just Dave and the Rockin' All Stars Band @ Minnehaha Falls
Curtis A & Dark Click @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mary Elias's Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Medium Zach Ad Hoc Sessions @ Modist Brewing
Celebrating Pride with Thomas Søndergård @ Orchestra Hall
Kendra Glenn @ Papa Legba Lounge
Aaron's Solstice Metal Goat Roast @ Palmer's
Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer's
East Lakers, the Fabulous Hackmasters @ Schooner Tavern
Lip Critic with killusonline and bejalvin @ 7th St Entry
- Pixies and Modest Mouse with Cat Power @ Surly Brewing Festival Field—Let me be the first to inform Gen Xers and millennials of a shocking fact: You’re old as shit! As such, stacked nostalgia bills have become the norm, and you could do a whole lot worse than the Pixies and Modest Mouse. The Pixies, alt-rock titans since the term was “college rock,” have been going strong since 1986, though the revolving door at bass continues to spin—the great Kim Deal was replaced over a decade ago by Paz Lenchantin, who has also since left. The group’s latest album, Doggerel, arrived in 2022 to lukewarm reviews. But hey, these motherfuckers made Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, and nobody can take that from ‘em. Modest Mouse are also the makers of all-time rock albums (1997’s The Lonesome Crowded West, 2000’s The Moon & Antarctica), and have also endured lineup shifts; founding drummer Jeremiah Green died in 2022 and founding bassist Eric Judy split in 2012. It’s more or less the Isaac Brock show these days, with the band deciding to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their incredibly unlikely Top 40 album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Brock, he of semi-recent conspiratorial inclinations, remains one of the most engaging frontmen out there. Opening is the always wonderful Cat Power, whose Bob Dylan cover album from last year proved faithful and beautiful.—Jay Boller
Cross Pollination: Knife Emoji, Sunbather @ 331 Club
Crowe Boys with Brotherhood of Birds @ Turf Club
Afterbirth Cartoons, Mystery Meat, Cannabis Kiss @ Underground Music Venue
Channel One Sound System @ unifiedtheorycollective
Morgan Wallen @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Maul, Deterioration @ White Rock Lounge
Devaney & Friends with Mary Bue, Boots & Needles @ White Squirrel
Friday, June 21
Linus and Lost Island Society (Album Release) @ Amsterdam
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Jennifer Grimm @ Apostle Supper Club
Billy Dankert Trio + Field Trip @ Aster Cafe
Cyber City Disco: Yasmeenah, Nancy Yamacoochie, Ori the Ghost @ Beast Barbecue
Charlie Bruber/Jack Barrett @ Berlin
Forest Fire, Absinthe, Rosie, Burrow @ Caydence Records & Coffee
The Umbrellas, Jim Ruiz, Real Numbers @ Cloudland
Jack Klatt with Becky Kapell and Paul Bergen @ Clown Lounge
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Dale Alexander Sextet @ Crooners
Joel Cohen and Friends @ Crooners
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Scottie Miller @ Crooners
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Explosion Big Band @ Crooners
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Latin Soultet, Rhinoceros Dynasty @ Dark Horse
Vintage Dance Workshop with Shannon Butler @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Jon Weber @ Episcopal Homes
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Ahmed and the Creators @ Erta Ale Ethiopian Restaurant
Middle Kids with Gordi @ Fine Line
The Teardowns, Finick @ 50th & France
Jacob Hanson and Ted Olson @ The Freehouse
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: The Other Ol' Blue Eyes @ Gambit Brewing
La Clave & DJ Medico @ Granada
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Blue Ox Jazz Trio @ Herbie's on the Park
Matt Wilson & His Orchestra, Christy Costello @ Hook and Ladder
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Courtney Burton & Court's In Session @ Huntington Bank Rotunda
Derecho Rhythm Section @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Expresion Tropical Band @ Jackey's Peg Leg
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Latin Soultet @ Jazz Central
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Aaron Hedenstrom: Rhinocerous Dynasty @ Jazz Central
SouthSide Big Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Jawns with Deadcrow @ The Loft
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Gypsy Mania Hot Club Quartet, Jack Brass Band @ Mears Park
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: The Jazz Bridge Project, ThoughtCast, BluLuna @ Metronome Brewing
Dodging Potholes @ Minnehaha Falls
The Maxxx Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Juice!! Present by Love @ Modist Brewing
Quintron and Miss Pussycat + Mullet + Bermuda Squares @ Mortimer's
Celebrating Pride with Thomas Søndergård @ Orchestra Hall
Melange Trio @ Padraigs Brewing
American Cream, Mr. Softheart and DIIE @ Palmer's
Green, Sunsets Over Flowers and Jonger @ Palmer's
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Kevin Jackson @ Papa Legba Lounge
Oceanographer, Anna Devine, Sine Iris @ Pilllar Forum
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Richard Allen @ Pillbox Tavern
Thunderheads @ Schooner Tavern
Corsair with Echoes of the Fallen, Kalopsya, and Ecphasis @ Studio B
Black Pumas with Abraham Alexander @ Surly Brewing Festival Field
Joan of Profile, Juliet Farmer, Emily Rhea @ 331 Club
- Yeehawoncé with Lady Cummeal Cassadine, Priscilla Es Yuicy and Cariño @ Turf Club—Yeehawoncé: It’s fun to say, and it’ll be fun to celebrate when this Cowboy Carter dance party takes over the Turf Club. This ain’t Texas, but you can expect lots of iconic country and Southern rap/trap on the DJ OMGigi-curated playlist, along with classic R&B, and, of course, songs spanning the career of Beyoncé herself. And you can probably even recycle the outfit you wore to Orville Peck last week!—Em Cassel
Bad Tiger & Curfews @ Underground Music Cafe
Sham 69 with No Consent and Los Outsiders @ Underground Music Venue
Morgan Wallen @ U.S. Bank Stadium
The Comancheros, Joe Hysell & the Ramblin' Mercenaries, the Jensen Sisters @ White Rock Lounge
Oath (Demo Release), Kalot, Hurt You @ White Rock Lounge
Orchid Club with Small Animal Hospital, Gwen @ White Squirrel
Russ with 6LACK and Melii @ Xcel Energy Center
Jest, Lighter Co., Dilly Dally Alley @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, June 22
Twin Citizen & Airship Caravan @ Amsterdam
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Daniel Rottenberg @ Apostle Supper Club
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Patty Peterson with Jon Weber @ Apostle Supper Club
Jeremy Walker / Anthony Cox @ Berlin
Benny Weinbeck Trio with Adam Linz + Phil Hey @ Berlin
Ameet, Parisota Hot Club, BrassZilla @ Big River Pizza
Leslie Parker and Collaborators @ Cedar Cultural Center
Age of Self, Buio Omega, Laugh Track, Vermit @ Cloudland
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: JazzMN Orchestra with Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Patty Peterson with Jon Weber @ Crooners
The Big '70s Jazz Singalong @ Crooners
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Maggie's Afterglow: Judi Vinar and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Urban Classic Presents: The Music of Earth, Wind & Fire @ Dakota
Pierre Lewis Organ Quartet, Sophia Kickhofel Quartet @ Dark Horse
Blood Cookie, Warcake, Bunny Blood @ Dusty's
All Women's LGBTQ Pride Dance @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Jon Weber, Maud Hixson with Rick Carlson @ Episcopal Homes
sapphic factory: queer joy party @ Fine Line
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Tommy Bentz Jazz Trio @ Gambit Brewing
Essjay The AFROCENTRICRATCHET. DJ Rae, Dj Mcshellen @ Green Room
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Blue Ox Jazz Trio @ Herbie's on the Park
The Big Wu with Nicholas David & Dylan Nau and Saint Suburbia @ Hook and Ladder
Harlow, Emily Rhea, Disaster Kid @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Pierre Lewis Organ Trio @ Jazz Central
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Sophia Kickhofel @ Jazz Central
Aweminus, Wodd @ The Loft
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: The Avant Garde, Salsa del Soul, Swingin' on a Star @ Mears Park
Mantra Summer Concert Series @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ DJ Jeannie Retelle @ Modist Brewing
House Sessions feat. Michael Grey & DJ JEN-E @ Mortimer's
Celebrating Pride with Thomas Søndergård @ Orchestra Hall
One Voice Mixed Chorus: The Art of Joy @ Ordway
Víkingur Ólafsson plays Bach and Glass @ Ordway
Sonic Symphony @ Orpheum Theatre
Trench Size Trio, Eldest Daughter & Emmy Woods @ Padraigs Brewing
Twin Cities Jazz Festival: Amy Manette @ Papa Legba Lounge
June DJ Dance Ride with DJ Dev & DJ Neko @ Perennial Cycle
Brian Naughton Band @ Schooner Tavern
Afromatic ft. Fanaka Nation and Obi Original with Tolzy Sound, Mack OC, King Swank @ 7th St Entry
Morris Day, New Power Generation @ State Theatre
Black Flood Diesel, Callus Soul, Derecho, Harsh Reality, Madam Driver @ Studio B
EROC B-Day Bash @ Terminal Bar
Little Fevers, Val Son, Goatroper @ 331 Club
Pedro the Lion with Squirrel Flower (solo) @ Turf Club
Toronzo Cannon (Album Release) with Mark Cameron Band @ Uptown VFW
Burning Sister, Graveyard People, The Vault, Raven's Way @ White Rock Lounge
The Pinkerton Raid, Michael Gay @ White Squirrel
Miss Valley Orchestra @ White Squirrel
John Forrest & The Model Citizens with The Over Unders @ White Squirrel
Ace of Wands, Shading the Sun, Services, Shane Kramer @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, June 23
Lakeview & Austin Meade @ Amsterdam
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Dosh & Friends with Thomas Dincek @ Berlin
- Celebrating the Life and Music of Spider John Koerner @ Cabooze—I don’t think we’ve said it on Racket yet, so here goes: A heartful RIP to the great "Spider" John Koerner, a West Bank Minneapolis music legend who died last month at 85. Musicians from around the state mourned Koerner, as did national figures like friend/collaborator Bonnie Raitt. “We got to enjoy a lifetime of fun, great music, and meaning,” Raitt wrote. “John will be remembered as one of the most beloved and important revivalists of the great folk and blues song tradition.” And, this afternoon, local friends/collaborators like Charlie Parr, Paul Metsa, Jack Klatt, Liquor Pigs, Pop Wagner, and the Cactus Blossoms will honor Spider in the most appropriate fashion: with lots of wonderful live music followed by a potluck dinner at Palmer’s Bar. In semi-related news: The Strib’s Chris Riemenschneider has this nice piece about venues Cabooze and Myth coming back from their respective financial brinks.—Jay Boller
The Count Basie Orchestra Featuring Carmen Bradford @ Crooners
Arne Fogel's Swingin' 75th Birthday Party @ Crooners
Socktopus with Jojo Green and One Egg Wonder @ Day Block Brewing
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Dayfunk with Jonn Hawley @ Eat Street Crossing
Faith Boblett (Single Release), Vinje, Odd Daughters @ Green Room
Michael Perry & The Long Beds @ Icehouse
Drums of Navarone @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Minnesota Freedom Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
One Voice Mixed Chorus: The Art of Joy @ Ordway
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
Yunior Romero, Vickie Crisler @ Papa Legba Lounge
Peter Bradley Adams with Bark Point. @ 7th St Entry
The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club
Chuck Prophet with The Suitcase Junket @ Turf Club
The Menzingers @ Varsity Theater
St. Paul Songwriter Rounds @ White Squirrel
Monday, June 24
Keith Larsen/Jason Achilles & Russ Kaplan +2 @ Berlin
Ginger Commodore: By Design feat. Jackson Hurst @ Dakota
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
World Music Monday @ Eagles 34
Tony Ortiz and the Guns of Soul @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Lena Nine, Solomon Falls, Madelyn Waves @ Pilllar Forum
- Los Lobos with Dan Israel @ The Roc—These Mexican-American roots-rockers blasted out of East L.A. in the ’80s with a soulful Chicano-rock sound that made lots of the heartland rockers then in vogue sound kinda wimpy and strained. Rather than resign themselves to being “that ‘La Bamba’ band” after a fluke Richie Valens cover landed them on the pop charts, they swerved into more experimental ventures in the ’90s with producer Tchad Blake. (Think of them as progenitors of Wilco in that way.) It wasn’t quite like old times when they returned to straight-up rocking in the ’00s, so it was heartening that their 2021 album, Native Sons, which collected covers of Los Angeles bands from the ’60s and ’70s such as Buffalo Springfield and War, had a bit of the old spark. But albums hardly tell the full story of Los Lobos. This tour marks 50 years that the four original members have been playing together, and they’ve barely lost a step live.
Rivals with True North and MVSSIE @ 7th St Entry
Open Mic Night @ Sociable Cider Werks
Discrepancies with Nuisance and Glass Eyes @ Turf Club
