Question: What do Christmas, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mr. McGoo, Paul Simon, Ornette Coleman, Shakers, the Middle East, award-winning American poetry, and the art of international illustrator Eric Hanson have in common?
Answer: The Holiday CD, “Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things”
Friday, December 5, 7:30-10:00 pm
Larry McDonough Quartet
With Guests Carol Bergquist and Rosie McDonough
The Nicollet, 1931 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis
Monday, December Dec. 15, 7-9 pm
Larry McDonough Quartet
Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis
$8 cover
Friday December 19, 8-11 pm
Larry McDonough Quartet
With Guest Carl Warren
Junior's Bar & Restaurant, 414 S Main St., River Falls, WI
Saturday, December 27, 4-6 pm
Larry McDonough, Richard Terrill, and Carol Bergquist
Beaner’s Central, 324 N. Central Avenue, Duluth
Larry McDonough Quartet (LMQ)
Larry McDonough, piano and vocals
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Greg Stinson, bass
Dean White, drums
Guests:
Carol Bergquist, flute (The Nicollet and Beaner’s Central)
Rosie McDonough, African drum (The Nicollet)
Carl Warren, vocals (Junior’s)
Families and students are welcome. LMQ will perform selections from the CD “Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things” along with seasonal poetry by award-winning poet and saxman Richard Terrill, as well as other LMQ favorites like Stonehenge by Spinal Tap and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.
“Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things” was released in December 2013 with great reviews, radio airplay, and performances in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Paris, France. The CD release at the Artist’s Quarter (AQ) was one of the last CD releases held there before the AQ closed.
Holiday Service Performances:
Larry McDonough and Richard Terrill
With Guest Rosie McDonough
Sunday December 14, 10:20 am, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato, 937 Charles Avenue, Mankato http://www.uumankato.org/
Larry McDonough, Richard Terrill, Craig Matarrese, and Chaz Draper
Sunday December 21, 9:00 and 11:00 am, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Rochester, 1727 Walden Lane SW, Rochester http://www.uurochmn.org
Larry McDonough, Richard Terrill and Greg Stinson
With Guest Rosie McDonough
Sunday December 28, 10:30 am, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth, 835 W. College Street, Duluth http://www.uuduluth.org/
Larry McDonough and Richard Terrill
With Guest Carol Bergquist
Andrea Canter of Jazz Ink said of “Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things”:
“We've been enjoying the music of Larry McDonough for a number of years, so it's about time we spend the holidays with this creative pianist-vocalist-bandleader-composer. Here Larry has compiled favorites from his repertoire of traditional holiday fare as well as more modern works often associated with the season, presented in solo, duo and quartet contexts and all blessed with Larry's trademarks of odd time signatures and inventive harmonies. Not your mother's holiday album, McDonough leads off with a tribal groove on ‘My Favorite Things,’ enhanced by echoes of Coltrane from saxman Richard Terrill, then goes solo in transforming ‘Jingle Bells’ into an elegant jazz ballad.
Other popular seasonal songs are given unfamiliar treatments-- the dark shades of gray on ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Simple Gifts’; a delicate piano/sax duo reharmonizing ‘Little Drummer Boy’ (sans drums!); a reconsidered ‘Ode to Joy’ that sneaks in a snippet of Bill Evans' ‘Waltz for Debby’; a ‘We Three Kings’ that musically leans toward Bethlehem; and an ‘Angels We Have Heard On High’ with staggering rhythms. The pop inclusions are no less satisfying, from Richard Terrill's haunting sax on the minor waltz arrangement of ‘Alone in the World’ from Mr. McGoo’s Christmas Carol to the quartet's free-wheeling, ‘Paul Simon Meets Ornette Coleman’ rendition of ‘Scarborough Fair.’ Spending the holidays with Larry McDonough is like the best of family reunions--getting reacquainted with relatives who seem so different from how we remember them, and so much more interesting.”
Angels, Kings, My Favorite Things
Larry McDonough Jazz
ITunes
CD Baby
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 also is a lawyer and law professor selected by William Mitchell College of Law as one of "100 Who Made a Difference" over the 100 year history of the school. He directs pro bono legal services for the poor at Dorsey & Whitney.
Sax player and Minnesota State University Mankato English Professor Richard Terrill received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry, for his poetry compilation “Coming Late to Rachmaninoff” (University of Tampa Press, 2003). Terrill 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, Terrill 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. He teaches creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Bassist Greg Stinson plays in a number of bands around the Twin Cities. He has been the bass player in the Century College Jazz Ensemble for over 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. Stinson also spent many years playing saxophones, guitar, bass, and vocals in jazz/rock and variety bands in the area. Stinson 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. Stinson was a band and choir director in public and private schools before changing to his current career in telecommunications technology. LMQ performs Stinson compositions from the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra recording ADance to Be-bop. http://larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com/Greg.html
Dean White grew up in Superior WI and played in various working bands while attending the Univ. of WI, Superior. After graduating with a bachelors degree in percussion performance, he moved to Hollywood CA to attend Musicians Institute. Half way through the first year he 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. These include 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 a rich music scene that exist in the Twin Cities.
Flautist Carol Bergquist has been active as a performer, soloist, and teacher in the Twin Cities for 30 years. Ms. Bergquist has performed with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and in local orchestras, including the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, and Allegro Sinfonia. In addition, she has performed for at The Basilica of Saint Mary for 29 years, performing Masses, special events, and NDI Production’s annual summer musicals, involving numerous Basilica members. Ms. Bergquist studied with Cynthia Stokes, Adam Kuenzel, and Donald Peck and has performed at master classes at the Ordway Music Theater with Carol Wincenc and DePaul University in Chicago with Donald Peck. Ms. Bergquist holds an undergraduate degree in writing and an MBA in Technology Management, teaches flute, and works for IBM as a proposal writer and manager. She is married to pianist Larry McDonough.
Rosie McDonough has performed music since her early years both with her father Larry McDonough as well as with Highland Friendship Club, a social group she attends for adults and children with disabilities, and the St. Paul Bridge View and Focus Beyond public schools she attended for persons with disabilities. She now works at TSE, a nonprofit company that supports people with developmental and other intellectual disabilities. Her present musical focus is on African Drum.
Contact Larry McDonough
651-398-8053
