Jazz fest returns to Burnsville
Five-time Grammy Award winner Randy Brecker is set to headline this year’s Art & All That Jazz festival in Burnsville. (Photo submitted)
The headliner at this year’s Art & All That Jazz Festival brings an impressive resume to the stage.
Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Parliament Funkadelic, Frank Zappa – trumpeter Randy Brecker has appeared on albums by all of them.
The five-time Grammy Award winner best known for his work in the Brecker Brothers is set to close this year’s festival scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 18, in Burnsville’s Nicollet Commons Park.
Securing Brecker for the festival began with what basically amounted to a cold call, according to Dan Gustafson, event founder and lead organizer.
“We were thrilled that not only did (Brecker) respond, but he was willing to perform,” Gustafson said. “It is a testament to our nine-year history of presenting acts of escalating quality.”
Also set to perform at this year’s Art & All That Jazz are the Dakota Combo, featuring youth jazz talent from across the Twin Cities; swing-jazz band Hot Swing Combo; nine-piece salsa ensemble Charanga Tropical; and jazz-rock fusion band The Super Pilots.
This will be the second year the Super Pilots have taken the stage in Nicollet Commons Park. The group features drummer JP Bouvet of Lakeville, who last year was crowned champion in the national Guitar Center Drum Off, and guitarist Mike Linden of Apple Valley. They’re joined in the Super Pilots by two of their Berklee College of Music classmates.
The music at Art & All That Jazz runs from noon to 10 p.m. and admission is free. Food, beer and wine will be available from vendors throughout the day, and the stretch of Nicollet Avenue adjoining the park will be closed to traffic as it plays host to an art fair, an annual feature at the festival, which this year will see more than 40 artists with work for sale.
More about the festival, including the performance schedule, is at www.burnsvilleartjazz.com.
