The Larry McDonough Group returns to Berlin to celebrate the release of their new CD, Best of the Aster Classic Jazz Series, which filled the Aster Cafe in April. They will perform one set from the CD and one set of the music of Dexter Gordon, including music from the 1986 Oscar-winning film Round Midnight. The Larry McDonough Trio packed Berlin in the fall and winter. If you missed the shows then, do not miss this one.

Band Members:
Larry McDonough - Piano
Richard Terrill - Saxes and poetry
Greg Stinson - Bass
Dean White - Drums

Larry McDonough is an award-winning jazz composer, pianist, singer, and teacher based in St. Paul. He has performed around the world and has released 12 CDs and DVDs as a leader. He has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists. His other jazz projects include Fusebox (original jazz fusion trio) and Trios Trio (classic jazz). When not playing jazz, he performs jam fusion in Quantum Mechanics, funk in Funkin’ Right, classic rock in Whiskey Burn, indie rock in HiFi, and punk in Saint Small. He was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons, and his awards include the American Composers Forum Showcase Award for the composition “Strait of Gibraltar.” He also is a lawyer and law professor who was selected by William Mitchell College of Law as one of “100 Who Made a Difference” over the 100-year history of the school.

Richard Terrill, saxophone player and retired Minnesota State University Mankato English professor, has been performing with Larry McDonough since 2001. He also has performed with guitarist Jim McGuire and with Chaz Draper’s Uptown Jazz Quartet. As a college student, Terrill was a member of the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble and performed with later-to-be Pat Metheny keyboardist Lyle Mays in the Lyle Mays Quartet, winner of small group honors at the Midwest College Jazz Festival. He has also worked with pianist Geoff Keezer. He received the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry for his poetry compilation “Coming Late to Rachmaninoff” (University of Tampa Press, 2003). His current book of poetry is “What Falls Away Is Always.”

Bassist Greg Stinson plays in several bands around the Twin Cities. He has been the bass player in the Century College Jazz Ensemble for more than 25 years. He also plays in the CC Septet, Shorn Hortz Quintet, Paul Berger Trio, and the St. Croix Jazz Ensemble, and he regularly subs with the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Classic Big Band, and Cedar Avenue Big Band. Stinson spent many years playing saxophones, guitar, bass, and vocals in jazz/rock and variety bands in the area. He is an active composer/arranger with jazz charts in the books of the Century Band, Nova, CC Septet, and others. He has also written a number of choral arrangements and compositions for school and church groups. Stinson was a band and choir director in public and private schools before changing to a career in telecommunications technology; he is now retired.

Drummer Dean White grew up in Superior, WI, and played in various working bands while attending the University of Wisconsin, Superior. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance, he moved to California to attend Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music. Halfway through the first year, Dean was offered a main showroom gig at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. He was the first drummer in the Legends In Concert Show, which still performs in various incarnations across the country today. He left Las Vegas to join Tony Axtell and Toshi Hinata in Tokyo to write and play original music. Since settling back in the Twin Cities, Dean has performed with many groups, including Good, the Bad and the Funky; the Autobody Experience; Century Big Band; Nova Jazz; Big Time Jazz Orchestra; the Shorn Hortz jazz quintet; Power of 10; Jack Knife and the Sharps; Tubby Esquire; and Hennessy Brothers jazz. He has also studied privately with Gordy Knudtson and his Open/Close technique.