NO COVER

6:30 to 9:30pm

JC Sanford:

Trombonist/composer/conductor JC Sanford is deeply rooted in the traditions of jazz and classical music, yet constantly pushing at their boundaries. A long-time student of the legendary Bob Brookmeyer, Sanford has performed as a trombonist alongside the likes of Danilo Pérez, Matt Wilson, Anthony Cox, and Donny McCaslin. A sought-after conductor of new large ensemble music in NYC, he conducts the thrice-Grammy-nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, the Frank Carlberg Large Ensemble, the Alan Ferber Nonet +Strings, John Ellis’ jazz opera Ice Siren, and the Alice Coltrane Orchestra featuring Ravi Coltrane and Jack DeJohnette. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by jazz artists such as Dave Liebman, John Abercrombie, Lew Soloff, and Ingrid Jensen, plus non-jazz artists like Japanese koto player Yumi Kurosawa, British singer-songwriter Joy Askew, and Grammy-nominated classical pianist Andrew Russo. His own 2014 JC Sanford Orchestra album Views from the Inside won international acclaim and was awarded the prestigious Aaron Copland Fund for Recording grant. Sanford was recognized as a "Rising Star” trombonist and arranger in DownBeat Magazine’s 2018 Critic’s Poll, is a 2018 McKnight Composer Fellow, and received a 2019 MN Sate Arts Board Artist Initiative grant to record his quartet. He was also just named musical/artistic director of the JazzMN Orchestra.

Steven Hobert:

Steven Hobert describes his artistic embodiment FireFlyForest Music as a soul who plays, sings and dances while exploring life’s mysteries. His genre-blending piano, accordion, vocal music and composition has been described as “delightful, innovative and viscerally inspiring” that “dazzles audiences with sincerity and playfulness to open up hearts and fire imaginations.” Based out of Minneapolis, he plays in Oudyano with renowned Syrian oud player Issam Rafea, tours as a soloist, leads the world beat-driven ensemble FireFlyForest Collective, leads the Wall Smashers (groove-jazz) and works as a free-lance producer, composer and instrumentalist for countless shows with vocalists & ensembles in jazz, classical, world music fusion, sacred music and American roots music.