Pianist Ethan Iverson, founding member of The Bad Plus, performs works by James P. Johnson and John Coltrane as two sets of solo-piano etudes.
Ethan Iverson plays the Dunsmore Jazz Room on Thursday, October 22, with a program that puts two very different eras of jazz on the same stage. Iverson is a founding member of The Bad Plus, and this time he's performing solo piano, pairing the work of James P. Johnson and John Coltrane. It's a rare pairing: Johnson was a giant of the Jazz Age, the man behind the anthem The Charleston and stride classics like Carolina Shout. Coltrane, of course, is one of the most influential saxophonists in history, and Iverson treats his iconic themes as solo-piano etudes. The whole evening is structured as two sets of etudes, one for each composer.
That approach to Coltrane—taking a saxophonist's themes and reworking them for solo piano—fits right in with the way Coltrane himself played, always pushing and exploring. Hearing his work alongside Johnson's stride piano gives you a sense of the distance between the two, and how Iverson bridges them. It's not often you'll hear these two names in the same set, let alone in the same room.
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The show is presented by Crooners Supper Club, part of the Dunsmore Jazz Room collection, and it's set up with bar and table seating and no cover. The music runs from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM, and the doors open at 6:30 PM for dinner and drink service, so you can get settled in before the first set starts. Tickets are $25 to $35, and the venue is at 6161 Hwy 65 NE in Minneapolis.
