Nine Nights of Music - 2009
Enjoy Nine Nights of Music every Tuesday in July and August!
Free Live Outdoor Music
Tuesday evenings
6:30 to 8 pm
Minnesota History Center
The popular series presents the rich and vibrant rhythms and sounds of Minnesota’s multi-cultural community at free outdoor performances at the Minnesota History Center.
Listen to infectious music and get out your dancing shoes for saucy salsa, soulful Motown, and classic big band swing! Co-sponsor Tapestry Folkdance Center provides instructors to lead the way. Bring a lawn chair, and pack a picnic or purchase food from the Café Minnesota terrace grill.
Performances are free and held on the Laura Jane Musser Plaza at the Minnesota History Center. In case of inclement weather, events will move inside. Programs subject to change. Museum galleries and stores are open until 8 pm and the admission fee is waived on Tuesday evenings.
2009 Schedule
June 30
Salsa del Soul
Salsa del Soul is a local eight-piece orchestra that plays dance music from the Spanish-speaking regions of the Caribbean. Sway to the fiery, contagious rhythms of Son Montuno, Salsa and Plena while vocalists Gloria "La Nińa" Rivera and Nelson Rosado transport you to steamy Puerto Rico and Cuba with pulsating sounds from the finest musicians of the Twin Cities Latin scene.
July 7
Cafe Accordion Orchestra
Enjoy a loungy, eclectic mix of French flare, Latin heat and Bohemian attitude with Café Accordian Orchestra. Wear your favorite rakish beret to model in the Beret Parade. Dan Newton and his musicians provide the bongos and the bravura--you bring the baguettes. It's a beatnik picnic on the History Center plaza.
July 14
Bruce A. Henry and Friends
Bruce A. Henry, popular vocalist, educator, and Twin Cities favorite at Ruperts and the Dakota Bar and Grill, utilizes his talent with tremendous ease and flows effortlessly from octave to octave, from genre to genre, interpreting Spirituals, Blues, Jazz, R and B, Rock and Soul. He’ll bring his extraordinary range, charm, and commanding presence to the plaza with a four-piece combo that will blend genres in a rhythmic, danceable groove. The Bruce A. Henry and Friends concert is presented by Best Buy.
July 21
Eelpout Stringers and Pre-Show for Families
Karl "Gill" Burke, Craig "Bullhead" Evans, Nick "Fin" Rowse and Loyd "Keeper" Mitchell
play the happiest music you ever heard. They like to play the stuff that gets
your toes a-tappin' and croon ballads with lyrics that touch your soul. Families
are encouraged to join the "barn dance" and enjoy the company of these
lovable old fogies.
Pre-Show Activities
4 to 6 pm
Activities will include ring games, mimicry, movement and foolishness. Folklorist
Bob Walser will lead traditional games enjoyed by pioneer families and recent
immigrants to Minnesota. Alabama Gal, Dinah's Dead! and Akidoso will get
you moving and keep you laughing. You can also get crafty and make a dashing
Eel Pout bolo-tie (to wear on the dance floor) or a Minnesota fish mobile.
July 28
Cajun Hot Soles
Rhythmic two-steps, waltzes and narrative songs filled will passionate themes
of love, heartache and humorous tales describe the soulful music of the Louisiana
bayous. The ensemble will have you swaying on the dance floor with visions
of spicy gumbo and shrimp jambalaya.
August 4
Charmin Michelle Swing Band
This charismatic song stylist, backed by her classy five-piece band, has the
all the grace and grooves of past legendary ladies of jazz.
The special
extended evening is a tribute to the History Center’s Minnesota’s Greatest Generation Project. Make the scene in your vintage 40's era threads--then model and win prizes in a fashion show during the 7:30 pm intermission. And most importantly, brush up on your swing with instructors from Tapestry Folkdance Center.
August 11
Jantri
Expect the unexpected from Jantri (a Sanskrit word meaning instrument) where every song is a journey. The five-piece ensemble blends Hindustani classical, Bangla-folk and western jazz and blues music. What emerges is organically new and is an exciting, danceable mélange of style, mood and texture that reflects east/west culture.
August 18
Yid Vicious
this seven-piece group dares to cross the border into Minnesota territory. The repertoire draws mainly on traditional secular Yiddish music, but also incorporates new ideas into an organic, ever-evolving art form that often drives crowds into flurries of freylekh-fueled dancing fury. Klezmer music is all about celebration, so join the boisterous good fun.
August 25
Cyril Paul and the Calypso Monarchs
Cyril Paul and the Calypso Monarchs bring you a taste of the Carnival experience. Cyril began his musical career in Trinidad as a singer and bongo artist. He and his band are widely known throughout the Midwest for their toe tapping Calypso melodies that include rumba, bolero, cha cha and reggae. They play music that is danceable and hot, hot, hot.
Program Sponsors
Co-sponsor
Co-sponsored by Tapestry Folkdance Center
