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| A Trip to the Red Planet at the Artists Quarter by Andrea Canter, Jazz Police One of the area's most innovative threesomes, Red Planet "is creative jazz for the 21st Century, inviting you to put one ear on the launching pad of neo-bop Trane/Hendrix/Monk burn, and your other ear on the celestial weightlessness from the musical cosmos" (AQ Press Release). Often on the bandstands of area festivals and jazz clubs, Red Planet—led by guitarist Dean Magraw, with bassist Chris Bates and drummer Jay Epstein—is one of the AQ's most popular acts. Dean Magraw is in the habit of wowing audiences with his fleet fingered plucking and creative compositions. Said Steve Tibbetts, "It's guitar, but it's so liquid, lyrical and effortless that it's like listening to a dancer." Starting out on bugle, St. Paul native Magraw studied classical guitar at the University of Minnesota and Berklee College of Music in Boston. For many years, Magraw was half of a popular partnership with mandolin virtuoso Peter Ostroushko. Straddling jazz, folk and bluegrass, he has performed with and/or recorded with Ruth McKenzie, Claudia Schmidt and Greg Brown, among others; he has explored his Celtic heritage performing with Celtic accordionist John Williams. Magraw's first solo recording, "Broken Silence, won the NAIRD 1994 Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year. Expect great tunes infused with Magraw's impish humor. Chris Bates, with his brother, drummer JT, grew up with jazz, sons of trumpeter/bandleader Don Bates. He began bass lessons in 4th grade and progressed to jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before returning to the Twin Cities to study with Anthony Cox. A member of the Motion Poets, Framework, Low Blow, How Birds Work and the Kelly Rossum Quartet, Chris is also an accomplished composer (he was a 1999 McKnight Composer Fellow). Drummer Jay Epstein is seen all over the Twin Cities, often in the company vocalists (Christine Rosholt, Connie Evingson) and top instrumentalists (Bill Carrothers, Giacomo Aula, Gordy Johnson, Benny Weinbeck, Mary Louise Knutson). He had a long-standing gig with the Phil Aaron Trio at the Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington, and released a highly acclaimed recording, Long Ago. He is also a member of Main Time and the Mary Louise Knutson Trio. Get ready for blast-off, the countdown is underway. Red Planet has been cleared for launch from the basement of the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul, and you can be part of the journey this weekend, December 28-29. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |