Perhaps going with the mantra that all true, freewheeling jazz lovers don't want to plan too far ahead anyway, the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant finally announced details of its street fest today – with a little over two weeks' notice. The free, daylong party will take place Saturday, July 27, from noon to 10 p.m. outside the club on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis with a lineup that goes well beyond jazz.
Performers spread across stages from 10th to 12th streets will include: Southern-rooted party band Davina & the Vagabonds; Kansas City blues belter Kelley Hunt (a big hit in the club); Alabama rockers the Kenneth Brian Band (also in town this Saturday for the Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Fest); rap star Toki Wright and his live band the Debris; veteran blues/R&B trio Paul Metsa, Willie Walker and Willie West; blues rockers the Tex Pistols with the Hornheads; "Twin Cities Funk & Soul" alum Sonny Knight and his band the Lakers, plus local jazz vets Irv Williams, Patty Peterson, Debbie Duncan, Butch Thompson and the Dakota Combo with students from the Twin Cities Jazz Workshop.
The Dakota Street Festival will also feature kids entertainment, including MacPhail Music Factory, along with fire dancers, Chicks on Sticks stilt walkers and other fair kind of thingies, plus local food and drink vendors. This will be the third installment of the event, following a year off last year and coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Dakota's relocation to Nicollet Mall (it's now in its 28th year of business).
