The Afternoon Cruise

Saxophonist Tony Exum Jr. will be in the Twin Cities November 15 performing at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel in Edina at 6pm. MN Smooth Jazz Vibes founder Stephanie Calloway and Tony Exum Jr. talk with Manny Hill about the upcoming event, and what attendees can expect to experience. Tony also shares a little about his background and how he got into Jazz.

Singer Yazmin Bowers is also a pianist, painter, dancer and teacher. She's also quite the World traveler spending a lot of her time in Havana, Cuba where she teaches music and culture and eventually incorporating her own experiences into her own music. With her heart and soul ultimately coming from her Midwestern roots, it's always a delight to hear what she's up to musically and how her recent collaborations with the Twin Cities' own, Havana Quartet beart fruit. We were lucky enough to have Yazmin along with Alvaro and Andrew from her group join us on the Afternoon Cruise to tell us more about what they've been up to and what to expect from her show at Crooners.

On April 23, 2024 Cornbread Harris celebrated his 97th birthday. Ahead of his birthday festivities at Hook and Ladder on Thursday Harris took the time to chat with Sean McPherson from Jazz88 to talk about his life. Special thanks to Andrea Swensson for facilitating the interview.

Maud Hixson is a mainstay of the jazz scene in the Twin Cities and she has churned out another exemplary disc. On Saturday she's taking the stage of Crooner's to celebrate the new release "Permanent Moonlight". Listen in to Maud's conversation with Sean McPherson from the Afternoon Cruise about the new disc and about Hixson's upcoming performance at Lincoln Center.

Travis Ryder, the Program Director here at Jazz88 stuck around to chat with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise about the broadcast schedule for this weekend's Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

Karrin Allison swung through the Afternoon Cruise to talk about her upcoming show at the Dakota on Tuesday, May 16. She's preparing for a new album centered on the music of Brazil and she's bringing some collaborators, including Rossa Passos to get in on the action.

Patty Peterson stopped by the Afternoon Cruise to discuss the Minnesota Jazz Legends event coming up on Sunday. Dive into this interview to get a glimpse of what goes into producing an event like Minnesota Jazz Legends. And we'll see you there on Sunday!

Gary Hines, the leader of Sounds Blackness, took the time to visit with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise in advance of Sounds of Blackness's show on Friday January 13 at the Ordway, Music for Martin.

In anticipation of his Saturday show at Jazz Central, saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree hopped on a ZOOM with Sean from the Afternoon Cruise to talk about new album, Golden Rule.

The Minnesota-based music icon Nachito Herrera hopped on the phone with Jazz88's Sean McPherson to discuss his upcoming performance at The Ordway. He'll be playing with a 7-piece band featuring the cream of the crop from the Cuban music scene. Enjoy the conversation about what concert-goers can expect from the show.

Ben Sidran is rolling through town for a two night stand on Friday August 19 and Saturday August 20 at Crooners. He was nice enough to hop on a ZOOM and chat with Sean McPherson about his new album and his upcoming shows.

The jazz legend and Jazz88 broadcaster Butch Thompson passed away on Sunday 08/14/22. This is the audio of the tribute to Butch Thompson from 8/16/22 during the Afternoon Cruise with Tony Baluff (Southside Aces) and Sean McPherson (Jazz88).

Ann Hampton Callaway is visiting the Twin Cities for a two-show stand over at Crooners this weekend. She was enough to talk about her love of the Linda Rondstadt songbook and her love of performing in general!

Emmet took a minute between soundcheck and his performance on Friday June 24 to touch base with Sean McPherson from Jazz88.

Veteran drummer Peter Kogan was nice enough to swing by for a conversation with Sam Keenan from Minnesota Jazz Tracks! Check out the interview!

In anticipation of their shows this week at the Dakota, Patty Peterson connected with Dane Alderson from The Yellowjackets.

Craig Rice from the MSP Film Society talks about several new offerings in their Virtual Cinema.

Craig Rice from the MSP Film society gives an update on what's showing in the Virtual Cinema.

Craig Rice from the MSP Film Society talks about films showing in free community screenings with scheduled online discussions.