Madison Jazz Calendar

Your Guide to the Local Jazz Scene

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Welcome to the Madison Jazz Calendar, a complete, accurate, and up-to-date list of live jazz events in Madison, Wisconsin. Go directly to the calendar, or see below for notices and news about jazz in Madison. 

Fabu & Jane to Celebrate Mary Lou Williams at the Kennedy Center

Madison jazz fan and organizer, Howard Landsman, sent in this notice.

Jane Reynolds and Fabu Carter perform at the 2010 Mary Lou Williams Centennial Celebration

Fabu Phillis Carter, the City of Madison’s first African American Poet Laureate as well as a scholar and educator, and Jane Reynolds, the superb jazz pianist and retired co-host of “Strictly Jazz Sounds” on WORT-FM, will perform their unique program – “Remember Me: Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music” – on Saturday, May 10th, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of the 2025 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.

Fifteen years ago, in 2010, our community celebrated the 100th birthday of Mary Lou Williams, the legendary jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator who conducted a memorable residency at the UW-Madison in 1976. Under the guidance of artistic co-directors Fabu and Jane, and with assistance from the Mary Lou Williams Foundation and the Institute of Jazz Studies, our local Centennial Committee produced a diverse year-long array of concerts of Mary Lou’s music and educational programs that illuminated her contributions to American music and culture, engaging more than 8,000 people in the process. One of the Centennial Celebration’s highlights was the jazz-and-poetry program about Mary Lou that Fabu and Jane delivered at concert halls, schools, and other venues across Dane County. [Read more…] about Fabu & Jane to Celebrate Mary Lou Williams at the Kennedy Center

Holding Space

Los Angeles-based saxophonist and composer Dennis Mitcheltree (born and raised in Wisconsin), and pianist Johannes Wallmann (the Peterson Chair in Jazz Studies at UW-Madison) recently released Holding Space, a duo album of all original compositions. It is available at Bandcamp. Here are excerpts of the liner notes:

Holding Space is an intimate acoustic jazz album of duet performances by tenor saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree and pianist Johannes Wallmann. Featuring all original compositions and highly conversational improvisation, the recording celebrates a friendship and near telepathic musical chemistry established over three decades of collaboration, including six tours of the U.S., two tours of Germany, as well as three previous albums led by Mitcheltree and one by Wallmann.

credits

released February 7, 2025

Dennis Mitcheltree – tenor saxophone
Johannes Wallmann – piano
Russ Johnson – trumpet (2, 10, 18)

“Annus Mirabilis,” “Dalia Eats a Strawberry,” “Liberty Hop,” “Later That Year,” “Trio Adagio,”
“Piano Improvisation,” “Soul Occupant,” “Pretty Good Life,” and “Digging a Shallow Grave for My Enemy” by Johannes Wallmann, MooseWorks Music, BMI

“Via Valse,” “Willis,” “Sasayaki,” “Blues for Mark,” “Holding Space,” “Sephardic Blues,” and “Saxophone Improvisation” by Dennis Mitcheltree, Dengor Music, BMI

“Duo Improvisation 1” and “Duo Improvisation 2” by Johannes Wallmann, MooseWorks Music, BMI and Dennis Mitcheltree, Dengor Music, BMI

After a Break by Gabriel Heinemann

Gabriel Heinemann is a saxophonist originally from Madison. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2022 and now resides in Chicago. “After a Break” is his first full length CD and is available on Bandcamp.

Gabriel’s Trio is playing at Audio for the Arts on March 8th. Here are the liner notes:

Informed by a collage of styles including avant-garde jazz, post-bop, and indie rock, “After a Break” is a blend of improvisation, open-form composition, and melodic interplay.

All compositions by Gabriel Heinemann except Isotope (Joe Henderson)

credits

released June 7, 2024

Gabriel Heinemann – Saxophone/electronics and composition
Owen Frankel – Bass
Jeremy McCabe – Drums

Cover art by Chad Kouri: chadkouri.com

Recorded September 23rd, 2023 by Michael Macdonald, Bim Bom Studios, Chicago, IL: www.bimbomstudios.com
Mixed and Mastered by Michael Macdonald

license

all rights reserved

Being by Chris Rottmayer

There are so many high quality jazz recordings being released by Madison artists it’s hard to keep up. Here is another: “Being” by Chris Rottmayer. Released on March 8, 2024, it ended up #87 on the year-end Roots Music Report’s 2024 Jazz Album chart.

From the liner notes:
BEING is pianist Chris Rottmayer’s fourth album. It’s a collection of original music, written as part of a study of pianist Mulgrew Miller and his recordings with the Woody Shaw Quintet. Joining him on this album are Russ Johnson on trumpet and flugelhorn, Matt Endres on drums, and jazz master Rufus Reid on acoustic bass. The skillful compositions and virtuosic performances on BEING weave an exotic and mysterious tapestry that explores Miller and Shaw’s harmonic and modal concepts.

credits

released March 8, 2024

Chris Rottmayer – Piano
Russ Johnson – Trumpet and Flugel Horn
Rufus Reid – Acoustic Bass
Matt Endres – Drums

Tracked and Mixed at Audio for the Arts
Tracking and Mixing engineer: Audrey Martinovich
Mastered at Mystery Room Mastering
Mastering engineer: Justin Perkins
Produced by Chris Rottmayer and Peter Dominguez
Album Design by Zacc Harris

All compositions by Chris Rottmayer, Rottmayer Music, ASCAP

Gerri DiMaggio’s latest

Caravan is the latest release by Madison vocalist Gerri DiMaggio. Released on June 1, 2024, Caravan is a 6 song digital album by Gerri and her longtime working band. It is available for purchase on Bandcamp.
Gerri DiMaggi vocals
Bob Pesselman guitar
Paul Hastil piano
John Mesoloras bass
Rich Larson percussion

In These Hills, Beyond

Chad McCullough’s latest release was recorded live over two nights at the North Street Cabaret right here in Madison. Released on Sept 6, 2024, the complete liner notes, and the option to buy a CD or digital album are available on this bandcamp page.

CHAD McCULLOUGH trumpet
BRAM WEIJTERS piano, keyboard
DAVE MILLER guitar
JOHN CHRISTENSEN bass
KOBIE WATKINS drums

Ryan Meisel’s “Jarred”

On December 1, Ryan Meisel is hosting a Coda Vinyl Album release party for his latest release, “Jarred.”

Ryan Meisel grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs, graduated from UW Madison, and is director of bands at New Berlin Eisenhower HS. He maintains a busy performing schedule throughout southern Wisconsin and has put out over 10 albums. From the liner notes:


Jarred “Electric” represents one of the biggest musical risks I have taken on a recording project. Stretching boundaries, I wanted to capture the edginess of 80’s and 90’s rock and heavy metal that I grew up with as a kid. Playing through an FX processor gave me the chance to create fresh sounds that fuse improvised jazz with electronic experimentation. This album features three new compositions on side A and two reworked originals on side B. I’d like to thank my bandmates Jake, Cody and Matt for joining me on this project.
-Ryan Meisel, 2024.

credits

released June 1, 2024

All selections composed and arranged by Ryan Meisel.

Ryan Meisel: Soprano, Tenor, & Baritone Saxophones, EWI, Korg AX3000G Processor.
Cody Steinmann: Guitar
Matt Rodgers: Electric Bass
Jake Polancich: Drums

Chris Mosley’s “Tribunal”

Tribunal was released Sept 6, 2024 and is Chris Mosley’s first record since moving to Madison in 2022. He is having a record release party on October 26th at Cafe Coda.

According to his website, Tribunal is “an instrumental psych-jazz guitar record feat. bassist Damian Erskine and drummer Wayne Salzmann II. Eight compositions built for exploratory improvisation, the album is a tour of colors, textures, stories and lines. A broad jazz guitar sound is joined by the other-worldly vibes of fretless guitar, microtonal(36edo) guitar and a mini Korg synth, floating atop the effortless grooves of Erskine’s 5-string bass and Salzmann’s kit.”

Chris was raised in Austin, attended Berklee College of Music, and lived in Portland. He has been writing, recording, and performing music for over 20 years. Tribunal is his 7th studio album as bandleader. 

New Release from John Christensen

“Soft Rock,” John Christensen’s latest recording is now available. Featuring Tony Barba, Matt Gold, Joshua Catania and Neil Hemphill, this record blends elements of jazz and rock.

Below is an excerpt from the Bandcamp site. For the full liner notes see this publicity release from Paradigm Records.

“Christensen’s compositions are a case study on how to write simply enough to work within rock-driven groove vehicles yet incorporate enough intricacy and individualism to allow such vehicles to venture away from over-travelled back-beaten paths.” – DownBeat Magazine

credits

released August 9, 2024

John Christensen – bass
Tony Barba – tenor saxophone
Matt Gold – electric and acoustic guitars, organ, mellotron
Joshua Catania – piano, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer
Neil Hemphill – drums

All compositions by John Christensen (BMI)

Jazz at Five 2024 Line-up

Jazz at Five has announced it’s lineup for this summer. Details for each week are on the calendar.

Due to construction, the location this year is changed to the South Hamilton side of the Capitol Square. Live music will take place against the backdrop of the Capitol, and food, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages vendors will be on-site.