The Twin Cities Jazz Festival is taking jazz on the road, and Austin is the first stop May 16.

Sponsored by Jefferson Lines and with support from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the six-member Jazz Central All Stars will bring performances and clinics to students and general audiences in greater Minnesota, expanding access to some of the state’s best jazz musicians and educators, and providing opportunities to learn about and hear modern interpretations of America’s indigenous art form.

Austin will be the tour’s first stop with a May 16 concert at the Paramount Theatre hosted by the Austin Area Commission for the Arts. The tour will also include stops in Luverne, Montevideo, Sauk Centre, St. James and Faribault.

“It’s really exciting,” said Austin Area Commission for the Arts executive director Jennie Knoebel. “Jazz has gained such popularity in our community. It’s exciting we can be the kickoff for this statewide tour.”

Knoebel said organizers contacted the Paramount to be part of the tour which they jumped out in large part because Jazz is gaining a following in Austin as evidenced by the continue interest in events like the Paramount’s own Paramount Jazz event.

“There are enough fans in Austin and I think they are becoming more exposed to jazz,” Knoebel said.

The tour will promote the annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival, held June 26-28 in and around Mears Park in the historic Lowertown neighborhood of downtown Saint Paul. One of the largest civic events in the Upper Midwest, the festival attracts about 30,000 people each year.

Led by Jazz Central Studios co-founders Tanner Taylor (keyboards) and Mac Santiago (drums), these musicians have toured extensively in the midwest, the U.S. and abroad, and have performed with such jazz icons as Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney and Doc Severinsen.

“We’re really excited to have this chance to bring the music and enthusiasm of these great artists to cities around the state that so rarely get the opportunity to hear live jazz,” said Twin Cities Jazz Festival Board Chairman Alden Drew.

Details are still being finalized.

For more on the Twin Cities Jazz Festival visit www.hotsummerjazz.com.

 

Tour stops

•Austin, 7 p.m., Friday,  May 16 at the Paramount Theatre

•Luverne, Saturday, May 3 at the Historic Palace Theater

•Montevideo, Saturday, June 7 at the Hollywood Theater

•Sauk Centre, Saturday,  June 14 at the Eagle’s Healing Nest

•St. James, Thursday, July 17 at St. James Memorial Park, as part of “Summer Concerts in the Park” series.

•Faribault, Thursday, Sept. 25 at Newhall Auditorium at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School

 

The Jazz Central All Stars features six outstanding jazz artists: Bandleader and pianist/music director of Five by Design Tanner Taylor; saxophone/clarinet player Doug Haining, trombonist Dave Grafco, who leads the Valve Meets Slide quintet and performs with the JazzMN Orchestra; trumpet player Zack Lozier, who has toured in the U.S. and Europe for the past ten years; Graydon Peterson, who heads the Graydon Peterson Quartet and Ghost Tour; and Jazz Central co-founder Mac Santiago, drums and percussion who toured during the 1980s with British rock band Badfinger.