$15 at the door 7:30pm Show
Pianist Abebi Stafford, bassist Graydon Peterson, and drummer Pete James Johnson will perform two sets of songs primarily from Stafford’s most recent album, Stolen By Lies.
Pete James Johnson is a drummer, composer and educator in the Twin Cities—most often seen playing jazz and improvised music but at home in a variety of musical worlds. He has performed with local artists including the Zacc Harris Group, Bryan Nichols, Javier Santiago, Omar Abdulkarim, Dosh, Michael Cain, Chris Bates’ Red 5, Will Kjeer, Andrew Walesch, Nooky Jones, Adam Meckler, Aaron Hedenstrom, JazzMN Orchestra, Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Adam Bohanan. Johnson has also performed with international artists including the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Alan Broadbent, Russ Ferrante, Alan Pasqua, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Bob Sheppard. Johnson has taught at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, the University of Minnesota Morris, Hamline University, and the University of Southern California. He has served as a clinician and guest artist at several jazz festivals around the Midwest. Johnson’s primary instructors included Peter Erskine (Weather Report, Steely Dan), Ndugu Chancler (Miles Davis, Michael Jackson), Bill Platt (Cincinnati Symphony), and National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen.
Graydon Peterson is a bassist and composer living in Minneapolis. He regularly performs with a variety of vocalists and small ensembles, including Arne Fogel, Wayne Anthony, Firebell, Snowblind, Charanga Tropical, Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra, Tropical Zone Orchestra, D’Lakes, Babatunde Leah’s “Rhythm’s Mama,” and ThoughtCast. Graydon has accompanied world-renowned jazz drummer Francisco Mela for a series of concerts in Havana, Cuba. Other widely known artists Graydon has performed with include Delfeayo Marsalis, Gary Bartz, Randy Brecker, Ben Wendel, Jorge Pacheco, and Mayito Rivera. Graydon is also the founder of a successful jam session held every week at Whitey’s Old Town Saloon in northeast Minneapolis. A consummate accompanist, writer, and arranger, he has become one of the backbones of the jazz scene in the Twin Cities.
Abebi Stafford, a Twin Cities native, began playing piano at age nine and started his jazz journey at age 17. Since that time, he has performed and recorded all sorts of jazz, from modern to fusion to straight ahead. He is an award-winning jazz pianist who plays with artistry, heart, and rhythm. The group that played on his third album, Are Changing, was named Atlanta’s “Future of Jazz” winner in 2004; three of his songs from that album placed in the semifinals in the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. He has headlined the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. Having toured in the United States and across Europe, he is now a veteran keyboardist in the Twin Cities who enjoys collaborating with other local musicians, such as Lila Ammons, Peter Kogan, and Ahmed Abdulkarim. Stafford recently released his fourth studio album, Stolen By Lies, which features new, personal compositions intended to elicit a multitude of emotions from the listener.
