Summertime in Northfield is always full of events, and this weekend might be the busiest of the year so far.
The inaugural Northfield Jazz Festival will be held on Sunday afternoon at Way Park, with an afterparty jam at Imminent brewing on Sunday night.
The idea of a local jazz festival is something that just about every Northfield music promoter and impresario has thought about for most likely the full 150-year history of Northfield, but it took the highly accomplished JC Sanford, a Northfield High School graduate, to make it a reality.
Sanford is a well-respected performer, arranger, conductor and producer in jazz circles across the country. After graduating from Northfield High School, he eventually received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and spent many years living in and performing in New York City where he still maintains several professional engagements.
Having moved back to Northfield several years ago, Sanford has become a key player in the Twin Cities jazz scene and has become a cornerstone of the local jazz community.
Sanford said the idea for the festival that gets underway on Sunday was that of another local jazz virtuoso, Dave Hagedorn.
“The idea itself came from Dave Hagedorn, who’s one of the performers, and a former St. Olaf Professor of jazz. During Covid he said, ‘We’ll do something outdoors,’ so he had first thought of this idea and doing it in Way Park and getting some grant money. There were enough hurdles that he couldn’t follow through with it in the end. But I decided, well, I’ll just pick that up and see what happens.”
The festival will begin at 1pm with a performance by one of Sanford’s combos, the Imminent Standards Trio, followed by Maintime, featuring Hagedorn and Kevin Clement, among others. The afternoon will wrap up with jazz pianist and vocalist Laura Caviani.
At 6:00 the festival will move to the stage of Imminent Brewing, with a jam session led by the Blue Ox Trio. Sanford said anybody who wants to play during the evening session will be welcome.
“Inviting people who want to come and sit in play a tune or two. You know, we’re accepting all levels young kids up through professionals. We’re going to make it all work out and have a good time. And people who just want to come and listen and check it out and have a brew, that’s great too.”
Sanford recommended anyone attending Way Park on Sunday afternoon bring a blanket or a lawn chair, or both. Age Friendly Northfield will be on hand with their community servicing Red Chairs for those who might not be able to sit on the ground or a less supportive collapsible seat. The Praeliza Fusion Kitchen food truck will be there as well.
The Northfield Jazz Festival will begin at 1:00 at Way Park, and the jam session at Imminent Brewing will begin at 6pm. For more information, visit the festival’s Facebook page at Northfield Jazz Festival.
Attendance for all performances is free.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with JC Sanford can be heard here
Street Dance for all ages will feature Red Chairs, Bounce House, free transportation
Age Friendly Northfield is sponsoring a Community Street Dance tomorrow night in Downtown Northfield.
CC Linstroth of the Age Friendly Northfield Steering Committee said the event is inspired by the organization’s goal to create social opportunities for community members of all ages. Street Dances are time honored traditions for smaller communities and neighborhoods, she said, that have always been an excellent way to bring people together.
Organizers of the event, which Linstroth said includes members of the Northfield City Staff, the Defeat of Jesse James Days Organizing Committee, Riverwalk Marketfair, the Friends of Downtown Northfield, Age Friendly Northfield, and the operators of the All Around Townie Bus have been working on the event for more than 18 months. Division Street will be closed between 4th and 5th Streets at 4:30, and picnic tables and Age Friendly Northfield’s Red Chairs will be set up throughout the street. Linstroth said there will also be a Bounce House for the kids set up on the street as well.
The event will begin with free line dance lessons before the music officially begins. The first band scheduled for the evening is Los Rebeldes from Albert Lea, playing a wide variety of Tex-Mex, conjunto, country and rock music. They will be followed by legendary Rice County group Jivan Ivan and the Kings of Swing.
The All Around Townie Bus will make the rounds on a loop to all of the assisted living facilities in Northfield. Linstroth said there are sign-up sheets at each of the facilities for those who would like free transportation to the dance.
She said with all of the different organizations involved, and the amount of work they have done, she believes this will be a great success.
“We are very, very excited about this just because of the fact that it is totally free. It is open to the community and all other people within our vicinity who would like to just come and see downtown Northville. The shops will still be open because we are starting at 4:30 and the city is blocking off the street earlier in the day. It’s just coming together so well.”
The Community Street Dance is a free event that is scheduled to run from 4:30-8:30 on Saturday night.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with CC Linstroth of Age Friendly Northfield can be heard here
Rue and Sabien will combine virtuosic music performance with humor
And finally, there is still one more big event scheduled for tomorrow night as the Northfield Arts Guild will continue its summer concert series by presenting Gary Rue and Randy Sabien at the Guild theater.
The duo of Rue and Sabien are a popular attraction, but the two are well established individually as well.
Gary Rue is a member of the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, who has been writing and performing music for decades. He served for many years as Gene Pitney’s music director and has been at the center of many popular regional bands including the Sensational Sleepers, Nip and Tuck and Nouveau Rue. He has written hundreds of songs that have been recorded by a diverse variety of artists including Prudence Johnson, The Honeydogs, Mary Jane Alm and The Mavericks.
Randy Sabien is a master musician, best known for his work on the violin, whose music is a combination of Western Swing, be-bop jazz, and blues rock, with a touch of Duke Ellington thrown in.
A statement issued by the Northfield Arts Guild described a Rue/Sabien performance as “An ad lib, rapid-fire affair, riddled with a melodic cascade of personal favorites peppered with musical ideas occasionally interrupted by an errant thought, oblique social commentary, and comic highs and lows.”
Pauline Jennings, the Guild’s performing arts manager said, simply, they’re funny.
“And I think that’s what I love most about seeing Gary Rue and Randy Sabien perform. They’re old guys that have been friends for a really long time. So not only are they fabulous musicians, they play off each other musically so incredibly well and also personally. They’re very both very funny and they bring their humor to the audience, and it’s so delightful.”
Rue and Sabien will be at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater on Saturday night at 7:30. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at the door.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Pauline Jennings can be heard here
KYMN Daily News 7/12/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
