Wednesday, June 23, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis
Larry McDonough Quartet
Larry McDonough, Piano
Richard Terrill, Saxes and Poetry
Greg Stinson, Bass
Dean White, Drums
Families and students are welcome.
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60 years the Larry McDonough Quartet will celebrate the two live recordings of legendary pianist and composer Bill Evans, bassist and composer Scott Lafaro, and drummer Paul Motian on June 25, 1961 at the Village Vanguard. “Sunday at the Village Vanguard” and “Waltz for Debby” were the last recordings of this trio, as LaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard. The trio revolutionized jazz, with each member improvising at the same time while performing recognizable pieces.
The Larry McDonough Quartet also will release the new CD "Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds - Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans," a live recording covering the career of Bill Evans. Jazz curator Steve Kenny has called pianist Larry McDonough the Bill Evans scholar of Minnesota. "The quartet does more than replay the songbook. They relive it, reinterpret it for a new generation of jazz listeners, making then into now." - Eric Hanson, Author, Artist, and Jazz Historian
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Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby
Writing for Allmusic, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of Sunday at the Village Vanguard: “This trio is still widely regarded as his finest, largely because of the symbiotic interplay between its members. This is a great place to begin with Evans.” C. Michael Bailey of All About Jazz wrote "Along with Bassist wunderkind Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, Evans perfected his democratic vision of trio cooperation, where all members performed with perfect empathy and telepathy... It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series." Sunday at The Village Vanguard was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Waltz for Debby was voted number 465 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
Come see and hear the show that has filled venues throughout the Twin Cities.
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Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Gloria's Step (Scott LaFaro)
My Man's Gone Now (George Gershwin)
Solar (Miles Davis)
Alice in Wonderland (Sammy Fain)
All of You (Cole Porter)
Jade Visions (Scott LaFaro)
Waltz for Debby
My Foolish Heart (Victor Young, Ned Washington)
Waltz for Debby (Bill Evans, Gene Lees)
Detour Ahead (Lou Carter, Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo)
My Romance (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
Some Other Time (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green)
Milestones (Miles Davis)
Kind of Bill on the Palace Grounds, Marking 40 Years since the Death of Bill Evans
1. Introduction
2. Waltz for Debby
3. Blue in Green
4. Improvisations - Bill Evans (poem)
5. All of You
6. My Foolish Heart
7. Stella by Starlight
8. You Must Believe in Spring
9. We Will Meet Again
11. I Will Say Goodbye
12. Milestones
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Larry McDonough and Bill Evans
Jazz curator Steve Kenny called Larry the Bill Evans scholar of Minnesota. Larry grew up listening and transcribing Evans’ music, having seen his live performances in the 1970s. His shows and recordings feature the music of Evans. Larry has become friends with Evans’ widow Nenette, who supports Larry’s projects and provides him with some of Bill Evans’ manuscripts. Larry is the only Minnesotan invited to study the Bill Evans Archive at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies of Southeastern Louisiana University. Movie director Bruce Spiegel chose Larry to host Minnesota showings of his documentary film “Bill Evans Time Remembered.”
Larry recently released the double CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures” that includes “Alice in Wonderland,” based on the Evans’ arrangement; “Flamenco Sketches,” which Evans composed and performed with Davis on “Kind of Blue;” and “You Must Believe in Spring,” which Evans recorded with Tony Bennett. On the CD “Solitude, poetry in jazz,” Larry and saxophonist and poet Richard Terrill performed the Evans arrangement of “Some Other Time” along with Richard’s poem “Bill Evans.”
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Larry McDonough Quartet
Larry McDonough is a St. Paul jazz pianist and singer, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. He has released nine CDs and DVDs as a leader. Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures has played on radio stations and streaming services around the world. The CD charted #18 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 50 Jazz Album Chart. Simple Gifts reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and also has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world.
Richard Terrill, sax player and poet, received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry for his poetry compilation “Coming Late to Rachmaninoff” (University of Tampa Press, 2003). Richard has been performing with Larry McDonough since December 2001. He also has performed with guitarist Jim McGuire and with Chaz Draper’s Uptown Jazz Quartet. As a college student, Richard was a member of the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble and performed with later-to-be Pat Metheny keyboardist Lyle Mays in the Lyle Mays Quartet, winner of small group honors at the Midwest College Jazz Festival. He has also worked with pianist Geoff Keezer. Richard is a retired English professor from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Bassist Greg Stinson plays in several bands around the Twin Cities. He has been the bass player in the Century College Jazz Ensemble for more than 25 years. He also plays in the CC Septet, Shorn Hortz Quintet, Paul Berger Trio, the St. Croix Jazz Ensemble, and regularly subs with the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Classic Big Band, and Cedar Avenue Big Band. Greg spent many years playing saxophones, guitar, bass, and vocals in jazz/rock and variety bands in the area. He is an active composer/arranger with jazz charts in the books of the Century Band, Nova, CC Septet, and others. He has also written a number of choral arrangements and compositions for school and church groups. Greg was a band and choir director in public and private schools before changing to his career in telecommunications technology, now retired.
Dean White grew up in Superior, Wisconsin, and played in various working bands while attending the University of Wisconsin, Superior. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in percussion performance, he moved to Hollywood, California, to attend Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music. Half-way through the first year, Dean was offered a main showroom gig at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. He was the first drummer in the Legends In Concert Show that still performs in various incarnations across the country today. He left Las Vegas to join Tony Axtell and Toshi Hinata in Tokyo to write and play original music. Since settling back in the Twin Cities, Dean has performed with many groups, including Good, the Bad and the Funky; the Autobody Experience; Century Big Band; Nova Jazz; Big Time Jazz Orchestra; the Shorn Hortz jazz quintet; Power of 10; Jack Knife and the Sharps; Tubby Esquire; Hennessy Brothers jazz; and many others. He has also studied privately with Gordy Knudtson and his Open/Close hand technique. Dean feels blessed to be part of the rich music scene in the Twin Cities.
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Contact information:
Larry McDonough
651-398-8053
