The Enormous Quartet

When: 12/7/07
Where: Cafe Maude
Who: Chris Thomson (saxophones), Park Evans (guitar), Chris Bates (bass), Joey Van Phillips (drums)

Once a week on Fridays, this small neighborhood bistro in southwest Minneapolis turns into a cool jazz hang. The din is ear-splitting in the earlier hours; if you go when all the tables are full and people are stacked three deep around the bar hoping for a spot to open up, forget about hearing the music. But if you can wait until around 11, you'll be rewarded with excellent late-night jazz from some of the Twin Cities' finest musicians. Last week we heard Michael Lewis and Bryan Nichols; this time it was the Enormous Quartet. Other musicians were in the house (Jay Epstein, Bryan Nichols), and Jeremy Walker and Marsha Walker of Jazz is NOW! brought Matt Wilson and his band from the Minnesota Opera Center, where they had just performed Matt Wilson's Carl Sandburg Project. We had a drink, heard some music, and knew once more that life is good.

Chris Thomson on MySpace.