February was fun! After some great music with Bryan Nichols and JT Bates, the debut of my series Magica Improvisado and the Todd Clouser CD release and short tour I’m excited to be back in town to play music for you! March is looking great with some very exciting shows and another tour with Todd.

March Highlights:

Friday and Saturday March 1st & 2nd:
– Chris Bates’ Red 5 @ Artists Quarter  9pm  $10

feat: Chris Bates, Brandon Wozniak, Jt Bates, Adam Meckler, Pete Whitman (3/1) and Chris Thomson (3/2).

Red 5 ensemble was created to challenge my abilities, to stretch my composing skills and lastly to celebrate the improvisational culture of this geographical area. This is NOT a SAFE band and it’s a testament to the depth of talent we have here in the Twin Cities that I can call on Pete Whitman and Adam Meckler to not just fill in but fully integrate into Red 5. This unit was built to celebrate the making of music. We let the moment take us. Each show is a unique experience, song to song, set to set, second to second, it’s pure joy. I think the smiles on our faces are proof. There is a great deal of love and respect on the bandstand and we really want our audience to participate in this…..its a community vibe!

This is Red 5…we are going in…full throttle, no holds barred, improvisation at its finest.
Wednesday March 5th:
– Bill Simenson Big Band @ Jazz Central  8:30pm  $5

Wednesday March 13th: 
– Chris Bates’ Magica Improvisado @ Jazz Central  8:30pm  $5

Magica Improvisado takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of the month and will feature a rotating cast of characters playing my original tunes in unique combinations. This month will be a solo bass concert with special bass guests.

Monday March 18th:
-Tatsuya Nakatani, Adam Linz and Chris Bates @ Black Dog 7:30pm $10

The return to the Twin Cities of percussionist and bowed gong artist Tatsuya Nakatani! This is going to be a phenomenal evening of improvisation. I highly recommend this show. Tatsuya Nakatani info.

Friday & Saturday March 22nd & 23rd:
– Atlantis Quartet @ Artists Quarter  9pm  $10

Atlantis Quartet continues to be one of my favorite outlets for playing music! There is so much energy and passion with this band that it’s hard to contain at times. We have a new album in the works and we’ll be playing lots of tunes from that plus many of our favorites! Join Brandon Wozniak, Zacc Harris, Pete Hennig and CB for a weekend of improvisational exploration in 3,4,5,7 and 9!

Tuesday March 26th:
– Adam Meckler Orchestra @ Jazz Central  8:30pm  $7

Thurs March 28th – Saturday March 30th:
– Todd Clouser tour in San Jose del Cabo, MX.
I’ll be playing bass with Todd bringing his rocking and eclectic tunes to life with an AMAZING band. The stellar rocker Anton Fier on drums and the genius John Medeski on keyboards for this little run. Talk about dreams coming true!

That’s all for now but I’m looking forward to many new musical adventures with you all in the spring of 2013 including upcoming album releases from Atlantis Quartet, the Good Vibes trio and Grease Gun.  I’m mixing the last chunk of the Grease Gun album in a week and I promise we’ll be leaking a few snippets after that. -cb