Dean Granros:
Born in Ft Monmouth, NJ in 1951, Dean Granros lived in Minnesota most of his life, and is one of Minnesota’s veteran jazz composers and guitarists, and a pioneer of progressive guitar improvisation. Dean now lives in Wisconsin, not far from Eau Claire.
A composer and improviser, since the mid-sixties Dean has been combining blues, classical, electro-acoustic, rock ‘n roll, country, western swing, and various world music influences, and mixing it all in a pot of new jazz broth. His musical role models have ranged from Charles Ives and Messiaen, to Ornette Coleman, Monk, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton . .to Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, and Mississippi Fred McDowell,.
In addition to his own ensembles and solo work, Dean has performed with, The Whole Earth Rainbow Band, Yvonne Rainer Grand Union Dance Company, the Nancy Hauser Dance Company, Dave Dudley, Lee Konitz, Richie Cole, Lapis, Wingless Transportation Trio, Les Thimic, Anthony Cox (Siamese Fighting Fish, Starry Eyed Lovelies), Gao Hung, Vinnie Golia, Eric Gravatt and Kamanari, the Guthrie Theater company, Happy Apple, F*K*G, the Brad Bellows Duo, Carie Thomas, the Joe Smith Quartet, Ira Sullivan, Billy Holloman, "How Birds Work"', and George Cartwright’s “Curlew” and "Gloryland Ponycat".
Dean Granros attended the University of Minnesota for music theory and composition 1970-1972, and studied composition with John Gessner at Macphail Center in 1973. Concurrent with those academic studies, he served a lengthy apprenticeship in jazz and blues, playing nightclubs such as the old Blue Note in North Minneapolis, the Extraordinaire, and the Downtowner. He was a co-founder of one of the Twin Cities seminal experimental jazz groups, "the Whole Earth Rainbow Band" in 1970, and in 1974 he created "Lapis", an ensemble he wrote extensively for, and which was dedicated to exploring composition with structured improvisation .
From 1985 through 1993, he joined former Weather Report drummer, Eric Kamau Gravatt, in the high energy post-bop band, Kamanari.
1995 saw the formation of the progressive and virtuosic improvising trio F*K*G, formed with saxophonist Scott Fultz, and drummer Dave King. In 2002, he joined George Cartwright’s band Curlew, touring the eastern States and playing the EdgeFest in Ann Arbor, MI, and he is featured on Curlew’s much lauded 2003 Cuneiform release “Mercury”. Also in 2003, he began playing weekly Wednesday nights at St. Paul’s Artist Quarter jazz nightclub, with the exploratory quartet called How Birds Work. Over his career, Dean Granros has performed extensively at concert venues like the Walker Art Center and First Avenue, and his music has been featured on MPR, KBEM, and KFAI public radio. In early 2004, he formed "the AntiGravity Ensemble" to explore new improvisational composition directions. Dean continues to write and perform with the The Dean Granros AQ Trio, How Birds Work, and Stew Frog, as well as performing solo guitar.
Zacc Harris:
Often called the “hardest working guitarist in Minnesota”, Zacc Harris was born in 1978 in Long Beach, CA. His family moved to Virginia in 1988 where he picked up the guitar at age 16. Initially interested in folk music and rock and roll, Harris fell in love with jazz during a six month period of traveling the U.S. coast to coast at age 19. “I needed to leave Virginia, see what else was out there, so I just got in my car and left. While I was traveling, I found myself listening to tons of jazz music, mostly Miles and Coltrane, but what better way to get into this music.” Harris ended up in Illinois, where he decided to study music at Southern Illinois University. While there, he found himself cutting his teeth playing jazz at the bars around town and touring with a jamgrass band named Broken Grass. “Carbondale was a great place to learn to play. It was small, but had a popping music scene with so many people that loved going out to hear live music. I was playing six or seven nights a week down there.”
In 2005, Harris graduated with a BA in Music and moved to Minneapolis. “I came here because I knew that there was a good music scene, and especially a good jazz scene that was unique and edgy, with great bands like Happy Apple and Fat Kid Wednesdays. I thought this would be a good place to grow musically. I think that it’s actually one of the strongest instrumental music scenes in the country.” In 2006, he founded the collective Atlantis Quartet, which has garnered praise and recognition over the past few years, being named 2011 Best Jazz Artist by the City Pages. Harris has also formed soul jazz group Vital Organ, as well as Monk In Motian and a host of other groups. He has worked with many of the great musicians of the area as a sideman, including vocalists Debbie Duncan, Bruce Henry, Nancy Harms, Sophia Shorai, and Katie Gearty. He recently started working with Bay Area percussionist Babatunde Lea, and continues to work with local greats like Jay Epstein, Adam Linz, and more. Harris has garnered accolades from national publications, with Jazz Improv Magazine saying “Harris delivers a sound that is lucid, clear...providing rich-sounding accompaniment and well-crafted solos” while Cadence Magazine refers to his playing at “worthy of John McLaughlin.” In addition to playing, Harris teaches privately and at Hamline University, and curates the Jazz At Studio Z series in Saint Paul.
Chris Bates:
Chris Bates is a bassist of formidable talent. Having worked professionally for 25 years across all spectrums of the musical landscape he continues to be a driving force in the Minnesota music scene. Raised in a musical household Chris learned early on that variety and diversity were the key to being a working musician and he set his sights on the stars by the time he was a teenager. Bolstered by a classical foundation from MN Orchestra bassist James Clute, Chris gained traction as an improvisor at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire where he played in the award winning Jazz Ensemble I and was able to work with Red Rodney, Donald Harrison, Matt Harris, Ed Soph, Jiggs Whigham and Ira Sullivan in brief but intense concert experiences.
Immediately after the college experience Chris moved back to Minneapolis and dove headfirst into lessons with the world renowned bassist Anthony Cox who encouraged him to begin writing and performing his original music in the group Motion Poets. 3 albums and many van rides later Chris was awarded with a McKnight Composer’s Fellowship for his writing in this award winning ensemble.
At the turn of the century life entered a new phase when a day job, marriage and a son arrived. For several years Chris continued to work in a limited capacity with the focus on family. After being laid off in 2006 Chris has fully reemerged as a bassist and composer and now spends most of his time practicing and composing for the various ensembles he plays in.
In 2012 Chris released his debut album ‘New Hope’ with his quintet Red 5. An all original affair ‘New Hope’ is full of crack shot playing and smart writing that showcases a clean and minimal sound. It was the only jazz album to make the Star Tribune’s Critic’s Tally of top albums in 2012. 2014 saw the release of a new album by ‘The Good Vibes Trio’ and showcases Chris’ love of more standard jazz repertoire with gems from Charles Mingus, Freddie Hubbard and John Coltrane mixed with some original tunes from each band member.
Compositionally Chris recently completed and premiered a full big band version his blues ‘Friar Monk’ and also wrote a chamber piece ‘Relay Transmission’ for the new music ensemble Zeitgeist that was debuted in the summer of 2014. 2015 promises to bring another new opportunity with Chris collaborating on the soundtrack for a live radio drama with composers Steven Hobert and Soloman Parham for a debut performance in April 2015.
Jay Epstein:
Jay has put in several decades performing, recording, & touring in this jazz genre. After graduating college with a math degree, he studied polyrhythmic concepts in Manhattan with Barry Altschul, the drummer in Chick Corea's Circle. He's lived in Hollywood, Oklahoma City, Montana, Miami, Minneapolis, and played in house bands for 5 years on several cruise ship lines.
He's performed on 7 European tours with pianists Bill Carrothers & Giacomo Aula, and shared many choruses with Barney Kessel, Roseanna Vitro, Manfredo Fest, Sheila Jordan, Terry Gibbs, Greg Abate, Claudio Roditi, Gary Foster, Eric Alexander, Richie Cole, JoAnne Brackeen, Ernie Watts, Wayne Johnson, Karrin Allyson, Kenny Werner, Howard Levy, Toots Thielemans, Avashai Cohen, and Sarah Vaughan. His CDs, 'Long Ago' & 'Easy Company', featuring bassist Anthony Cox and pianist Bill Carrothers, have garnered luminous reviews in the international press. Current bands include Red Planet, Klezmerica, Framework, Firebell, Tall Tales, & Five By Design. He has been an endorser of Bosphorus Cymbals since 1997.
Born in Ft Monmouth, NJ in 1951, Dean Granros lived in Minnesota most of his life, and is one of Minnesota’s veteran jazz composers and guitarists, and a pioneer of progressive guitar improvisation. Dean now lives in Wisconsin, not far from Eau Claire.
A composer and improviser, since the mid-sixties Dean has been combining blues, classical, electro-acoustic, rock ‘n roll, country, western swing, and various world music influences, and mixing it all in a pot of new jazz broth. His musical role models have ranged from Charles Ives and Messiaen, to Ornette Coleman, Monk, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton . .to Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, and Mississippi Fred McDowell,.
In addition to his own ensembles and solo work, Dean has performed with, The Whole Earth Rainbow Band, Yvonne Rainer Grand Union Dance Company, the Nancy Hauser Dance Company, Dave Dudley, Lee Konitz, Richie Cole, Lapis, Wingless Transportation Trio, Les Thimic, Anthony Cox (Siamese Fighting Fish, Starry Eyed Lovelies), Gao Hung, Vinnie Golia, Eric Gravatt and Kamanari, the Guthrie Theater company, Happy Apple, F*K*G, the Brad Bellows Duo, Carie Thomas, the Joe Smith Quartet, Ira Sullivan, Billy Holloman, "How Birds Work"', and George Cartwright’s “Curlew” and "Gloryland Ponycat".
Dean Granros attended the University of Minnesota for music theory and composition 1970-1972, and studied composition with John Gessner at Macphail Center in 1973. Concurrent with those academic studies, he served a lengthy apprenticeship in jazz and blues, playing nightclubs such as the old Blue Note in North Minneapolis, the Extraordinaire, and the Downtowner. He was a co-founder of one of the Twin Cities seminal experimental jazz groups, "the Whole Earth Rainbow Band" in 1970, and in 1974 he created "Lapis", an ensemble he wrote extensively for, and which was dedicated to exploring composition with structured improvisation .
From 1985 through 1993, he joined former Weather Report drummer, Eric Kamau Gravatt, in the high energy post-bop band, Kamanari.
1995 saw the formation of the progressive and virtuosic improvising trio F*K*G, formed with saxophonist Scott Fultz, and drummer Dave King. In 2002, he joined George Cartwright’s band Curlew, touring the eastern States and playing the EdgeFest in Ann Arbor, MI, and he is featured on Curlew’s much lauded 2003 Cuneiform release “Mercury”. Also in 2003, he began playing weekly Wednesday nights at St. Paul’s Artist Quarter jazz nightclub, with the exploratory quartet called How Birds Work. Over his career, Dean Granros has performed extensively at concert venues like the Walker Art Center and First Avenue, and his music has been featured on MPR, KBEM, and KFAI public radio. In early 2004, he formed "the AntiGravity Ensemble" to explore new improvisational composition directions. Dean continues to write and perform with the The Dean Granros AQ Trio, How Birds Work, and Stew Frog, as well as performing solo guitar.
Zacc Harris:
Often called the “hardest working guitarist in Minnesota”, Zacc Harris was born in 1978 in Long Beach, CA. His family moved to Virginia in 1988 where he picked up the guitar at age 16. Initially interested in folk music and rock and roll, Harris fell in love with jazz during a six month period of traveling the U.S. coast to coast at age 19. “I needed to leave Virginia, see what else was out there, so I just got in my car and left. While I was traveling, I found myself listening to tons of jazz music, mostly Miles and Coltrane, but what better way to get into this music.” Harris ended up in Illinois, where he decided to study music at Southern Illinois University. While there, he found himself cutting his teeth playing jazz at the bars around town and touring with a jamgrass band named Broken Grass. “Carbondale was a great place to learn to play. It was small, but had a popping music scene with so many people that loved going out to hear live music. I was playing six or seven nights a week down there.”
In 2005, Harris graduated with a BA in Music and moved to Minneapolis. “I came here because I knew that there was a good music scene, and especially a good jazz scene that was unique and edgy, with great bands like Happy Apple and Fat Kid Wednesdays. I thought this would be a good place to grow musically. I think that it’s actually one of the strongest instrumental music scenes in the country.” In 2006, he founded the collective Atlantis Quartet, which has garnered praise and recognition over the past few years, being named 2011 Best Jazz Artist by the City Pages. Harris has also formed soul jazz group Vital Organ, as well as Monk In Motian and a host of other groups. He has worked with many of the great musicians of the area as a sideman, including vocalists Debbie Duncan, Bruce Henry, Nancy Harms, Sophia Shorai, and Katie Gearty. He recently started working with Bay Area percussionist Babatunde Lea, and continues to work with local greats like Jay Epstein, Adam Linz, and more. Harris has garnered accolades from national publications, with Jazz Improv Magazine saying “Harris delivers a sound that is lucid, clear...providing rich-sounding accompaniment and well-crafted solos” while Cadence Magazine refers to his playing at “worthy of John McLaughlin.” In addition to playing, Harris teaches privately and at Hamline University, and curates the Jazz At Studio Z series in Saint Paul.
Chris Bates:
Chris Bates is a bassist of formidable talent. Having worked professionally for 25 years across all spectrums of the musical landscape he continues to be a driving force in the Minnesota music scene. Raised in a musical household Chris learned early on that variety and diversity were the key to being a working musician and he set his sights on the stars by the time he was a teenager. Bolstered by a classical foundation from MN Orchestra bassist James Clute, Chris gained traction as an improvisor at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire where he played in the award winning Jazz Ensemble I and was able to work with Red Rodney, Donald Harrison, Matt Harris, Ed Soph, Jiggs Whigham and Ira Sullivan in brief but intense concert experiences.
Immediately after the college experience Chris moved back to Minneapolis and dove headfirst into lessons with the world renowned bassist Anthony Cox who encouraged him to begin writing and performing his original music in the group Motion Poets. 3 albums and many van rides later Chris was awarded with a McKnight Composer’s Fellowship for his writing in this award winning ensemble.
At the turn of the century life entered a new phase when a day job, marriage and a son arrived. For several years Chris continued to work in a limited capacity with the focus on family. After being laid off in 2006 Chris has fully reemerged as a bassist and composer and now spends most of his time practicing and composing for the various ensembles he plays in.
In 2012 Chris released his debut album ‘New Hope’ with his quintet Red 5. An all original affair ‘New Hope’ is full of crack shot playing and smart writing that showcases a clean and minimal sound. It was the only jazz album to make the Star Tribune’s Critic’s Tally of top albums in 2012. 2014 saw the release of a new album by ‘The Good Vibes Trio’ and showcases Chris’ love of more standard jazz repertoire with gems from Charles Mingus, Freddie Hubbard and John Coltrane mixed with some original tunes from each band member.
Compositionally Chris recently completed and premiered a full big band version his blues ‘Friar Monk’ and also wrote a chamber piece ‘Relay Transmission’ for the new music ensemble Zeitgeist that was debuted in the summer of 2014. 2015 promises to bring another new opportunity with Chris collaborating on the soundtrack for a live radio drama with composers Steven Hobert and Soloman Parham for a debut performance in April 2015.
Jay Epstein:
Jay has put in several decades performing, recording, & touring in this jazz genre. After graduating college with a math degree, he studied polyrhythmic concepts in Manhattan with Barry Altschul, the drummer in Chick Corea's Circle. He's lived in Hollywood, Oklahoma City, Montana, Miami, Minneapolis, and played in house bands for 5 years on several cruise ship lines.
He's performed on 7 European tours with pianists Bill Carrothers & Giacomo Aula, and shared many choruses with Barney Kessel, Roseanna Vitro, Manfredo Fest, Sheila Jordan, Terry Gibbs, Greg Abate, Claudio Roditi, Gary Foster, Eric Alexander, Richie Cole, JoAnne Brackeen, Ernie Watts, Wayne Johnson, Karrin Allyson, Kenny Werner, Howard Levy, Toots Thielemans, Avashai Cohen, and Sarah Vaughan. His CDs, 'Long Ago' & 'Easy Company', featuring bassist Anthony Cox and pianist Bill Carrothers, have garnered luminous reviews in the international press. Current bands include Red Planet, Klezmerica, Framework, Firebell, Tall Tales, & Five By Design. He has been an endorser of Bosphorus Cymbals since 1997.
