Artistic director: Jeremy Walker Managing director: Brian Voerding Production director: Jason Jungbluth Outreach and volunteer coordinator: Elise Peterson Administrative assistant: Benjamin Wright
Influences
(an ever-expanding and far from comprehensive list, in no particular order): Jeremy Walker, Anthony Cox, Chris Thomson, Kelly Rossum, Scott Fultz, Kevin Washington, Wessell Anderson,Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Matt Wilson, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, Ray Brown, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Keith Jarrett, Dexter Gordon, Coleman Hawkins, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Hank Mobley, Brad Mehldau, Joel Frahm, David Berkman, Jimmeapolis, Kelly Rossum, Chris Thomson, Bryan Nichols, JT Bates, Chris Bates, Michael Lewis, Dave King, Irv Williams, Fat Kid Wednesdays, James Buckley, Ted Nash, Matt Wilson, Art Tatum, Ella Fitzgerald, Andrew Hill, Ben Webster, Atlantis Quartet, Jelloslave, Fantastic Merlins,
about us.
Jazz is NOW! is a Minneapolis nonprofit that creates, commissions and presents original jazz.
We support the NOWnet, one of the premier jazz ensembles in the Midwest and one of the few groups in the country solely dedicated to composing, commissioning and performing original music. The NOWnet is comprised of top-call Twin Cities jazz musicians and ranges in size from six to ten players. The group is known as a composers’ ensemble, meaning it solely performs original music written by NOWnet members and composers commissioned by Jazz is NOW!.
The ensemble performs regularly in the Twin Cities and has been extensively praised by local and national critics. The Pioneer Press said the NOWnet performs “highly satisfying…original music”, and City Pages called it “an exciting, high-flying outfit that swung hard and swaggered its way through smart, contemporary jazz pieces.” Said Rake magazine, in June 2008: “ … it's not just skill present on stage; it's verve, panache, soul. Yes, call it soul. And the power of subtlety. It's the beauty and impact of understanding the nuances of jazz, what moves us.”
We also host performances of acclaimed local and national artists. Past performers have included: Wynton Marsalis quintet, Wessell Anderson, David Berkman, Ted Nash, Matt Wilson, Todd Reynolds, and others. Past collaborations include performances with the Zenon Dance Company, the MacPhail Center for Music, and others.
an interactive documentary.
Please visit our new, grant-funded website, www.jazzisnow.net, which features a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at our organization. There's free music, videos, photo galleries, blogs, scores, archived media from the Brilliant Corners days, and so much more.
Thank you for listening.
VIDEOS:
NOWnet performs Jeremy Walker's 'Pumpkins' Reunion', June 2008:
NOWnet performs Kelly Rossum's 'Seduction', June 2008:
NOWnet performs Scott Fultz's 'Dorothy and Robert', June 2008:
Thanks for the add. My jazz is word jazz and then some. This is by J. Otis Powell! My passion is free music Because it’s footprint disappears Like evaporating water. My passion is personal blues; Exaggerated cries Of generations lost in meandering Music that’s never been heard before. Fragments of sound That will not be revised, Transcribed, transposed Or set in tempo. Cries of the misremembered And the dismembered Inspire absurd laughter Too hysterical to understand Too terrible to analyze; Too grassroots to canonize. There is no wizard behind the curtain There’s not even a veil anymore; The skeleton of life is exposed. But seeing it all and hearing it The way somebody felt it Makes it incomprehensible and FREE! ~J. OP!~
hey jazz is now, i vividly recall our first encounter, you were hiding behind a Billie Holiday biography in the back of the clown lounge when you offered my colleague and I a place to sit and enjoy the noise, good to see that your still alive and well.
Hey guys... you guys sound FANTASTIC! The band blends so well together, and more imporatantly, swings like CRAZY! Does everyone in the band write tunes? Love hearing the original compositions. Best wishes,
