The Artists' Quarter (a.k.a. the AQ) was a well-known musician-owned and operated
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
club in the
Twin Cities.
History
The club opened in the early 1970s in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
at 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue South.
[RIEMENSCHNEIDER, CHRIS. "Artists’ Quarter to close at year’s end - St. Paul’s revered jazz haven fell victim to higher rents in a downtown that it helped revive.." ''Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)'' 8 Oct. 2013, METRO, NEWS: 02B. ''NewsBank.'' Web. 19 Nov. 2013.] After the original club closed in 1990, drummer
Kenny Horst opened a new location at the corner of Fifth and Jackson streets in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
in 1995. The club moved to the basement of the historic
Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul in 2001.
[Tad Vezner. "Artists' Quarter will close at year's end." ''St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)'' 8 Oct. 2013, St. Paul, Local: A2. ''NewsBank.'' Web. 19 Nov. 2013.]
The club featured both local and touring musicians. Many famous musicians played at the AQ, including
Pepper Adams,
Roy Haynes,
Mose Allison,
Joey DeFrancesco,
Sweets Edison,
Lew Tabackin,
Eric Alexander,
Jack McDuff
Eugene McDuffy (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz ...
,
Dewey Redman
Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett.
Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played alto s ...
,
Curtis Fuller,
Benny Golson,
Wallace Roney, and others.
Lee Konitz, Roy Haynes,
David Hazeltine,
Ira Sullivan,
Bill Carrothers, Dean Granros,
Phil Hey Quartet,
Atlantis Quartet, Bobby Peterson, Bob Malach,
Andrés Prado, and Billy Holloman have all recorded live albums at the Artists' Quarter. The club was voted one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world in 2009 by ''
Down Beat'' magazine,
["DownBeat's International Jazz Club Guide: 100 Great Jazz Club." Down Beat February 2009.]
Additionally, the AQ hosted the Soapboxing
Poetry Slam, home of the 2009 and 2010
National Poetry Slam Championship Teams.
On October 7, 2013, owner Kenny Horst announced that he would be closing the club on January 1, 2014, due to rising costs since his landlord died in 2012.
On October 28, 2013, St. Paul mayor
Chris Coleman pledged to keep the AQ open, though no details were shared at that time.
[DUCHSCHERE, KEVIN. "on the beat - ST. PAUL - A Palace that’s fit for a mayor." ''Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)'' 1 Nov. 2013, METRO, NEWS: 03B. ''NewsBank.'' Web. 19 Nov. 2013.] As of January 1, 2014, the club is closed.
Notable performances
Roy Haynes earned a
Grammy nomination for his drum solo, “Hippidy Hop,” from the live album ''Whereas,'' recorded at the club over the weekend of January 20, 2006 (which mayor Chris Coleman officially proclaimed “Roy Haynes Weekend”).
See also
*
List of jazz clubs
References
External links
''Jazz Police'' Artists' Quarter Club Review*
Artists' Quarter Page on
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
{{Music venues of Minnesota
Arts organizations based in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Jazz clubs in the United States
Music venues in Minnesota
1970s establishments in Minnesota