FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dakota Combo Opens 2014

PipJazz Live

Concert Season

April 5, 7:00pm at the Capri Theater

2027 W Broadway Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Saint Paul, MN. The PipJazz Live concert season for 2014 opens on April 5 (7 pm) at the Capri Theater (2027 W. Broadway) in North Minneapolis with special guests, the Dakota Combo.

Notes PipJazz founder and acclaimed vocalist Pippi Ardennia, "We're excited to bring live music to both the Minneapolis and East Metro communities, and to continue our mission to promote and enhance the talents of young musicians in the Twin Cities area... We are so pleased to have the Dakota Combo again. Last year, the Dakota Combo just blew us away. Not only is each musician an amazing young talent, but together they play at a level seldom seen among student bands."

The Dakota Combo, a metro-wide ensemble of high school musicians, is selected each year through open auditions. A program of the MacPhail Center for Music, sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, the Dakota Combo is directed by acclaimed bassist/educator Adam Linz. Over its 8-year history, the Dakota Combo has performed at area schools, the Dakota Jazz Club, Artists Quarter, Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival and Charles Mingus High School Jazz Competition in New York. Graduates have gone on to study at such prestigious music schools as the Berklee College of Music, Juilliard School, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, New England Conservatory, and Oberlin Conservatory. The Dakota Combo performed at the March 2013 PipJazz concert, and five students return for a second year.

The 2014 ensemble includes: Jack Courtright, trombone (Apple Valley High School); Ben Ehrlich, drums (Wayzata High School); Peter Goggin, alto saxophone (Mounds View High School); Will Kjeer, piano (Home School/St Paul College PSEO); Levi Schwartzberg, vibraphone (Minneapolis Southwest High School); Aidan Sponheim, trumpet (Minneapolis Southwest High School); and Sam Worthington, bass (Mounds View High School).

PipJazz Live (formerly PipJazz Sundays) is entering its fourth year presenting family-friendly concerts that feature local professional and student musicians. The concert series is a program of the PipJazz Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks "to bring world class music to the community in a family-friendly environment where young people can be inspired to fully engage in the arts." The Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education is a nonprofit organization committed to "educating and supporting a new generation of jazz musicians and audiences."

Advance tickets ($25 adult, $10 student) are available at www.pipjazz.com; tickets also available at the door. For more information about the Dakota Combo, visit www.dfje.org

Media contact: info@dfje.org