Minnesota Music Profiles

Series produced by KBEM

Caption: KBEM logo, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
Image by: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative) 
KBEM logo 

Each item in the series tells how a musicians is inspired, how s/he works, their goals and intents for their work; in general, how each gets motivation and follows through with a creative project.

Each Minnesota Music Profile focuses on a musician or group. Listeners learn some of the behind-the-scenes stuff related to the creative process. Programs in the series are under 10 minutes in length. They can be run anytime because they are not time sensitive. These pieces are especially appropriate when subjects perform in the areas served by given radio stations.


423 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Wee Willie Walker, Credit: Doug Knutson
Wee Willie Walker and We’r (We Are). Now this is one top flight blues band. The group plays the groove most people expect from a blues band, but wi...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 03, 2016
  • Length: 08:49
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: jazz 88 logo, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
Dean Magraw in demand by venues, and by other players. Why? It is because he is innovative and grounded in tradition. Dean’s innovations are the ki...

  • Added: Mar 10, 2016
  • Length: 09:23
Caption: jazz 88 logo, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
They do the old blues and a lot of new blues, too. Stephen Faison and the 3 O’Clock Gruv is a band of musical veterans hungry to make its mark with...

  • Added: Mar 14, 2016
  • Length: 05:50
Caption: Kip Peltoniemi, Credit: Mary Crimi
Kip Peltoniemi is the type of player who combines the music he has heard during his lifetime into a style and outlook that is personal yet inviting...

  • Added: Mar 22, 2016
  • Length: 10:29
Caption: Diane Jarvi, Credit: Nick Lethert
She’s an artist of many talents, and she keeps embracing more and more. Diane Jarvi is touched by Finnish, American and other world cultures, and s...

  • Added: Mar 28, 2016
  • Length: 09:19
Caption: Southside Aces, Credit: Jonathan Hankin
The Southside Aces is a Minneapolis-based New Orleans-style Jazz group playing uncompromised traditional Jazz. They play it the old way, but when a...

  • Added: Apr 07, 2016
  • Length: 09:10
Caption: Marcus Wise, Credit: Jan Wise
Marcus Wise is a devoted tabla player. The tabla is a hand drum that provides a signature sound in east Indian music. He talks about his musical pr...

  • Added: Apr 26, 2016
  • Length: 07:37
Piece image
It’s a challenge to be a full-time jazz musician. But challenging or not, that’s what Joel Shapira does. He does it by becoming expert at many phas...

  • Added: May 01, 2016
  • Length: 08:01
Caption: Kari Tauring, Credit: Eli Solheim
Kari Tauring is a leading researcher and performer of ancient Norse traditions, but she uses them in healing sessions. Hers is a point of view that...

  • Added: May 04, 2016
  • Length: 09:22
Caption: Kari Tauring, Credit: Eli Solheim
Kari Tauring performs really old music in a really modernistic way. It’s a combination you wouldn’t expect, but is completely natural to someone li...

  • Added: May 04, 2016
  • Length: 05:00
Caption: Post-Atomic Trio, Credit: Post-Atomic Trio
The name “Post-Atomic Trio comes from the groups fondness for using the word “post.” You know, like “post-modern.” Well that would fit them, too. I...

  • Added: May 17, 2016
  • Length: 07:18
Caption: Jazz 88 logo, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
When you listen to a big band recording, you have the pleasure of engaging with a large number of talented musicians. But even if it is a small big...

  • Added: May 20, 2016
  • Length: 08:10
Caption: Joe Cruz, Credit: Emily Jane Davis
Joe Cruz. He’s got his feet planted in traditional styles. Perhaps that is why when he plays, it all seems so right, even though he does a lot of m...

  • Added: Jun 19, 2016
  • Length: 08:58
Caption: The Bend in the River Big Band, Credit: Paul Rippe
The Bend in the Big River Big Band is named for 2 Mississippi River bends. One is in Saint Peter, where the group was formed. And the other bend is...

  • Added: Jun 24, 2016
  • Length: 08:44
Caption: Charlie Lincoln, Credit: Andrea Canter
How do you become a jazz musician? The key just may be persistence. You can take lessons and school courses, but if you really want to play jazz…we...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2016
  • Length: 05:21
Caption: Edmunt Catlin on the drums with the group Hoaxer, Credit: Lee Tran
Edmund Catlin is a young Twin Cities drummer who, while still in college, plays in a variety of jazz bands. To Edmund, playing jazz requires a comb...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2016
  • Length: 06:53
Caption: Judi Vinar w/Wolverines Quartet, Credit: Paul Nixdorf.
Judi Vinar, the former Judy Donaghy has been at the forefront of Minnesota music for Decades. She wears many musical hats. She sat down with interv...

  • Added: Jul 09, 2016
  • Length: 09:46
Caption: Debbie Duncan, Credit: Nathan Youngerberg
When Debbie Duncan sings and lets her imagination run on a song melody, you are in the presence of someone who is a master of her craft. Debbie’s i...

  • Added: Jul 10, 2016
  • Length: 07:58
Caption: 651Jazz, Credit: Dave Miller
651Jazz. It’s a group of Rosemount, MN-area people who started playing jazz in high school, but saw no reason to quit at graduation. They sought ea...

  • Added: Jul 10, 2016
  • Length: 06:53
Caption: Sherry Minnick, Credit: Kate MacKenzie
Old Traditional folk songs. Without any promotion from the commercial world, the songs last for centuries. Sherry Minnick of St Paul sings old song...

  • Added: Jul 10, 2016
  • Length: 10:46