Featured artist in the May 12th concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, clarinet master Evan Christopher will present a free, public workshop on May 11th, 4-5:30 pm at the MacPhail Center for Music. The workshop, “The Power of Swing and the Birth of Your Cool” is sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society and Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education through donations to the Jane Donahue Education Fund. The focus of this workshop will be on “Developing your personal improvisational, creative spirit; incorporating the unknown into your comfort zone; and utilizing in-the-moment strategies such as ‘swing’ to convey ideas and create a mutual feeling with those around you.”

Evan Christopher is one of few working jazz artists to make the clarinet his primary instrument (he also plays soprano sax). A member of the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, he heads the Paris-based Jazz Traditions Project and the band Django à la Créole. The California native relocated to New Orleans in the mid 90s where he became a heralded performer before heading to Texas to join Jim Cullum’s Jazz Band.

He returned to New Orleans three years later, only to be displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He lived for a while in Paris where he initiated projects featuring traditional Creole music. Back in New Orleans since 2008, Christopher plays with Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and teaches at the University of New Orleans. He’s previously performed at he Dakota Jazz Club in the Twin Cities.

Evan Christopher, photo by Jim McGuire. Lee Engele, photo by Travis Anderson.

On May 12th (8 pm), the Hopkins Center the Arts closes out its music season with “Evan Christopher and Clarinet Road With the Twin Cities Jazz All-Stars,” featuring local vocalist Lee Engele.

By Andrea Canter

Debbie Duncan©Andrea Canter