• Icehouse MPLS (map)
  • 2528 Nicollet Avenue
  • Minneapolis, MN, 55404
  • United States

QUIET SWING DINNER & COCKTAIL BLUES

6-8:30PM

*In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we are in accordance with the City of Minneapolis regulations: masks are required upon entry & when not eating or drinking. Thank you!

$15 PER TABLE RESERVATION FEE. THIS AMOUNT GOES TO THE ARTISTS!

The Kings of Cole is made up of three musicians with diverse and deep pedigrees:

Joe Weismann (bass) A music graduate of Carleton College, Joe has performed in a cappella singing groups, instrumental jazz combos and everything in between. He played with bluegrass diva Becky Schlegel on A Prairie Home Companion, and was a founding member of local swing favorites The Jaztronauts as well as MPR’s In the Loop house band, The Smarts. Joe’s large 78 record collection provided the inspiration and much of the source material for the Kings of Cole.

Jim Kennedy (piano) A native of Eveleth, MN, Jim started his professional career playing solo bar gigs on acoustic guitar while still in high school. After moving to the Twin Cities, he took up electric guitar with local proto-punk legends The Glenrustles and then moved over showcase his prodigious jazz-keyboard skills in the Hot Heads, and later in the Jaztronauts. He and Weismann formed the Smarts to perform the backlog of original pop material they had been composing while still in the Jaztronauts. Jim has recently found his way back to guitar and can occasionally be seen and heard in the local alt-country band, the Saddle Sores. A theater musical, Lemonade for the Lawnboy, features music he co-wrote with Weismann for the Smarts.

Mo Engel (drums) Sitting in on percussion (in this usually drum-less trio) is a frequent collaborator and co-conspirator. Mo has worked with Joe and Jim in the Smarts, Jaztronauts, Hot Heads, Retrofizz, Looking Bacharach, Gourmet Jazz, the Volare Lounge Orchestra and the Saddle Sores as well as during countless sideman stints. Additional band memberships include the Straw Dogs, Vibrochamps, Kinda Fonda Wanda, Big Trees, Calamity Jean and several dozen others. When not drumming he is sleeping.