Summer in the City, Jazz at the Dakota in June

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor  
Sunday, 31 May 2009
The Twin Cities Jazz Festival will spend its entirety on the St Paul side this month, but jazz will nevertheless be festive in Minneapolis thanks to another month of nonstop music at the Dakota. Starting off with a return engagement with the Roy Hargrove Quintet, ending the month with high-flying drummer Karreim Riggins and two nights with Dr. John, and in between bringing back favorites Hiromi and Karrin Allyson, June IS a jazz festival at the Dakota! 

National Touring Artists:
June 3, Luba Mason (7 pm only). Blending jazz and Brazilian traditions into a jazzy pop vibe, vocalist Luba Mason is touring in support of her new recording, Krazy Love. She had early success on Broadway, performing in The Will Rogers Follies, Sunset Boulevard, Chicago and the revival of How to Succeed in Business; went on to roles in a variety of television productions, and took her vocal talents to such clubs as Catalina's and Yoshi's. At the Dakota she'll be supported by guitarist Sandro Albert, who appears on Krazy Love. She's got a couple Twin Cities-connected artists on her current tour-drummer J.T. Bates (Fat Kid Wednesdays) and bassist Michael O'Brien, recently transplanted to New York. We can hope they make this gig, too.