Root City Band: Alex Rossi, Pat Nelson, Corey Blanchard, Maxaphone, Heatbox, Chris Larson
Dan Ristrom Band: Dan Ristrom, Peter Day Ellidge, Arron Ollswang, Aaron Weiner, Dan Kusz, Corey Blanchard
Dan Kusz Band: Dan Kusz, Russ King/Corey Blanchard, Dan Ristrom, Barry Alexander/Pat Nelson, Deevo/Alex Rossi
Influences
prince, justin timberlake, david sanborn, maceo parker, mike phillips, the roots, common, incubus, the used, jill scott, rod stewart, jonny lang, rolling stones, anthony hamilton, eric clapton, outkast, the meters, soullive, dave koz, david sanborn, eric darius, gerald albright
Named One of the hippest jazz cats in Minneapolis by Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine - Dan is a musician of stylistic diversity. His music displays influences from many Genres of music, although his sound is deeply rooted within the spectrums jazz, r&b, and funk. Among his major influences are David Sanborn, Dave Koz, Euge Groove, Maceo Parker, Everette Harp, Gerald Albright, Ronny Loew, and many more. Dan is an energetic and soulful performer, and began grabbing the attention of listeners early on.
Over the years, Dan has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with a variety of artists and bands including Joe Juliano (James Brown), Renee Austin, Ricky Peterson (David Sanborn, Prince), Big Bamboo, Mateo, T-Bone Thomas, Mojo Buford (Muddy Waters), Moses Oakland, Slide Hampton, Bruce Henry, Dorothy Witherspoon, Chaz Smith (Prince), Jason Weisman, The New Congress, Alicia Wiley, Root City, Dan Ristrom, Desdamona, Alex Rossi, opened for stanley jordan, and many more. He has played in some of the finest clubs in Minnesota such as The Dakota Jazz Club, Rossi's Blue Star Jazz Room, The French Press Jazz Cafe, The Fineline, O'gara's, Bunkers, and also drew a crowd of 3,000 plus @ The Hot Summer Jazz Festival, the Burnsville Art & Jazz Festival, The Grand Marais Jazz Festival, and the Jazz 88.5 Winter Jazz Fest.
Dan's current projects include:
Dan Ristrom & The Big Throwdown
Black Belt Jonezin
The Dan Kusz Band
Root City Band
The Very People
Dan is also working on his new CD on the Steve Mcloone headed record label UltimaSongs which will feature some of the finest Minneapolis Musicians such as: Russ King, Alex Rossi, Orange AC, Dan Ristrom, Barry Alexander, Tony Axtel, Ricky Peterson, Kyle Wood, and many more!
Accomplishments:
Louie Armstrong Jazz Award Winner
2006 L.A. Music Award Winner for: Best Jazz Song & Best Jazz Artist Of The Year
Put out first CD in 2006 called "Lost In The Groove" which was produced by the very talented Ricky Peterson (Has done with with Oleta Adams, David Sanborn, Prince, John Mayer, Stevie Nicks, and a whole 20 pages more of artists!)
Performed on the KARE 11 Morning Show
Was featured in the Italy based Jazz magazine "Acid Jazz"
peaked at 6 on the "Top 40 Smooth Jazz Plays" for MA Radio station WUMD 89.3!
"Lost In The Groove" was in the top 10 chart for the Music Choice Smooth Jazz channel for 5 weeks straight peeking at 3 right behind Dave Koz
Was named one of the hottest acts @ The 2007 Hot Summer Jazz Festival
I just wanted to stop by to say hello and give you a little update on what Blood Root Mother is up to! We will be recording an EP of new music in August, and we recently finished recording a live DVD. The DVD is currently unreleased and I actually just saw it for the first time a few days ago. It features the last two performances with Tony Ellis still alive, and some footage from the tribute show we played on the night of his funeral.
There are some cool covers, as well as some NEW music that will be on our upcoming EP. We're very excited about the new music and we'd like to share a sneak peak with you. Here's a video of a new tune called Run Bobby Run:
Blood Root Mother will be playing at Trocaderos in Minneapolis on Friday, June 26th. I cannot stress enough how awesome this show will be!! We're playing with three of the sweetest local rock bands: Claret, Niobium and Casanatra. If you haven't heard these guys, check them out immediately! Please come to this show!!
I recommend stopping by during happy hour for two for one drinks along with free buffet, which is delicious. We'll be hanging out at Trocs all night, so come by and chill/party with us :)
Again, here's the event info:
Friday, June 26th Trocaderos 107 3rd Ave N Minneapolis, MN 18+ // $6 // 8pm
Please come out and support some great local music!! Music starts at 9:30pm, we should go on around midnight. Invite your friends, pile into a car (or a party bus), and together we will make this one of the highlights of the summer :)
What it do! Do you plan on coming out Wednesday for "Raising the Bar" at Arnellia's (1183 University Ave. St. Paul)? Hit me back ASAP! This week's featured artist is Shayde. As always, Mario Dawson, Nik Nyc, and Best Kept Secret (BKS) will be in full effect! Plus Live Music/Open Mic/Drink Specials!
Hello! Mark your calendar!! If you dont know, I play for a blues artist named Bernard Allison & we will be performing at the fifth annual Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Festival that will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2009, from Noon to 10:30 p.m. at Peavey Plaza in Downtown Minneapolis (outdoors at 11th St. and Nicollet Mall)
Bernard Allison is performing on the main stage at 7:00 – 8:30 PM
The Band includes:
Bernard Allison - (Lead Singer, Guitar)
Bruce McCabe - (Vocals, Keyboards)
Jose James - (Vocals, Sax, Percussion)
Jassen Wilbur - (Bass Guitar)
Erick Ballard - (Drums)
The festival is free to the public. More information is available at www.famousdaves.com/bluesfest or the Festival Hotline at (952) 294-1299.
Bernard Allison is a National/ Internationl performing band & this is the only time in 2009 that you can catch our concert in the Twin Cities & I'd like for you to come to the show & eat some BBQ!!
The MN Music Festival Guide is up on www.twincityscene.com . The guide contains links to the bands playing at each one so that you can pick the festival that has the music you like and plan which bands you want to see. Enjoy!
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Dan... my brother!! I'm so sorry I dropped the ball. I mean I "fumbled in the fourth quarter on our own 5 yard line!!". We need to get together! I'm recovering from an arm and shoulder injury but will be cleared in about 3 weeks... I hope you're not mad at me. --AK
LOLLIPOP PT.2 MARCH 20 DOORS OPEN @ 9:00 P.M. SHOWTIME 10:00PM @ DAJA VU 778 MORRIS PARK AVE MUSIC BY DA CLUB KILLA D.J. INCREDIDOI DOORS OPEN FOR THE GUYS @ 12:00AM ADVANCE TICKETS 2 $10.00 @ THE DOOR $15.00 2.4.1 DRINKS FOR THE LADIES...DRESS CODE: GROWN AND SEXY.....COME CELEBRATE YOUR EVENT HERE FOR FREE CALL FOR DETAILS 917-684-2456 TONI
Hey Danny! I hope this finds you well. There's lots of exciting stuff going on right now! I just wanted to let you know we've got some new songs, and pictures up on my page. Also we're starting to get some air play all across the United States. Stop by my blog section to find the request lines to the stations in your area. Do you think you could help us out by calling the request line and demanding one of our tunes?!? Let me know how things are going with you. I hope all is well! Talk to ya soon! -Jeff"
