Dakota Jazz Club

The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant is a jazz club in Twin Cities, Minnesota. The club opened in 1985 at Bandana Square in St. Paul as a restaurant with local jazz in the bar. In 1988, the programming expanded to national artists with performances by McCoy Tyner and Ahmad Jamal. In 2003, the Dakota moved to downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall.

The Dakota gained a national reputation as a jazz presenter, and many of the jazz greats have played there. The list of musicians who have played the Dakota includes Ray Brown, McCoy Tyner, Toots Thielemans, Joey DeFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Chucho Valdés, Benny Green, Joe Williams, Bobby Hutcherson, Roy Haynes, Arturo Sandoval, Wallace Roney, Charles Lloyd, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Fortune, Frank Morgan, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, Joshua Redman, James Carter, Madeleine Peyroux, Regina Carter, Patricia Barber, Von Freeman, Billy Higgins and Charles Brown.

Von Freeman, Nachito Herrera and Barbara Morrison have recorded live at the Dakota Jazz Club.

The Dakota started expanding from a pure jazz schedule through an affinity for New Orleans. Dr. John was performing solo shows at the Dakota when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and soon after, they began a policy of bringing Louisiana artists to the Dakota as close to monthly as possible. Since then, they have presented Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Aaron Neville, Charles Neville, Charmaine Neville, John Boutte, Jon Cleary, Irma Thomas, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Subdudes, Bonerama, Preservation Hall, CJ Chenier, Zachary Richard, and more. New Orleans naturally spreads into blues and other forms of American music, and they've presented Honey Boy Williams, Pinetop Perkins, Super Chikan, Duke Robilliard, Marty Stuart, Rosanne Cash, Dan Penn and Bobby Emmons.

Shows are now pretty eclectic in range. Recent shows include -

Lucinda Williams, Philip Glass (solo piano), Bob Mould, Suzanne Vega, Cowboy Junkies, Joe Henry, Raul Malo, Alex Cuba, Bettye LaVette, Angelique Kidjo, Dan Wilson, Shawn Colvin, CeU, Bebel Gilberto, Mavis Staples, Rachelle Ferrell, Mike Doughty, Josh Rouse, Anoushka Shankar, Shelby Lynne, Madeleine Peyroux, Raul Midon, Max Weinberg, Asleep at the Wheel, Tower of Power, Ely Guerra ("Best Alternative" at 2010 Latin Grammy), Aimee Mann, Nick Lowe, Katie Melua, Jimmy Webb, Ruthie Foster, Pieta Brown, The Pines, Ronnie Spector, Brian McKnight, James Hunter, Vusi Mahlesela, Liz Wright, Les Nubians, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Iris Dement .....

See also

• List of jazz clubs

External links

• "City Pages" Best Jazz Club 2011
• Jazz Police Dakota Jazz Club Review
• "Dakota Jazz Club website". http://www.dakotacooks.com. Retrieved 2006-07-31.