Greetings and salutations all you fine people!

Happy to report that music is still really fun to play, listen to, and experience! I’ve done extensive testing on this theory (conducting numerous interviews with lay people and known experts) and the conclusion is that even if you don’t connect with a song or performance immediately there is still worth in that experience. One just has to remain open and willing to accept the sounds.

On the topic of sounds:

Tuesday August 13th: 6-9 pm $5 donation All Ages Liberty Tree Farm Stockholm, WI

Mike Walk – sax, Josh Gallagher – keys, Rich McDonald – drums, CB – bass. Jazz Sounds in a barn on a farm. Food and Beverage available.

Wednesday August 14th: 8:30 pm $10 Jazz Central Studios

Chris Bates Connections: featuring Chris Thomson, Levi Schwartzberg and Edmund Catlin. There are many ways to make music and I love to connect with different people. This quartet will blast off in many directions (hopefully not all at once).

Saturday August 17th: 7:30 – 8:30 pm FREE Art and All That Jazz Festival Burnsville, MN

Explosion Big Band plays all sorts of, well, explosive music from Count Basie, Duke Ellington and many others. Join us for a, dare I say, an explosive evening?

Sunday August 18th: 3pm FREE Munsinger Gardens St. Cloud, MN

Laura Caviani trio w/ Dave Schmalenberger and CB. Playing all sorts of Laura’s music dn arrangements right on the river in St. Cloud. A beautiful afternoon experience.

Monday August 19th: 8pm (note later start time) $10 Donation All Ages Black Dog

RED PLANET plays every 3rd MONDAY: Dean, Jay and Chris have played together for over a decade now as Red Planet. Every second of every song is an adventure. You should come and hear it for yourself.

Tuesday August 20th: 6-9 pm FREE Hotel Landing Wayzata, MN

Zacc Harris & Chris Bates (aka: Bearish Tsar) play at the ninetwentyfive restaurant.

Friday August 23rd: 8:30-10:30 $10 All Ages Jazz Central

JC Sanford trio w/ Phil Hey & CB. Playing standards and perhaps a trombone cadenza or two.

Saturday August 24th: 6:30-9:30- pm FREE All Ages Icehouse

Tim Sparks w/ Jay Epstein & CB. Tim is a wonderment of guitaristic delights that has to be seen and heard live to fully appreciate. We’ll play pop tunes, and Zorn tunes, and all sorts of tunes.

Monday August 26th: 3 pm FREE (w/ admission) MN State Fair Dan Patch Park

Desdamona. I’m super excited to be collaborating with Desdamona on this gig and hopefully other upcoming performances. She is a powerful voice in the MN spoken word and hip hop community.

Wednesday and Thursday August 28th & 29th: 3, 4 & 5pm FREE (w/ admission) MN State Fair

Pushing Chain plays three sets a day of raucous, poignant and funky country folk music. We’ll be on the Schell’s Schilling Amphitheatre Stage at the West End. Boyd Blomberg, Adam Moe, Pete Caritas, JT & CB.

Sunday September 1st: 11 am – 2 pm FREE Icehouse Brunch

The Dolly’s play Icehouse Brunch. Always a really fun time playing with these magnificent people!

There will be no Bates Update in September because I’ll be touring with Davina and the Vagabonds to Israel, Hungary, France, Austria, Belgium and Czech Republic. Phew. It will be so incredible to play great music, see these new places, and visit some venues I’ve been lucky enough to play at in the past!

Just announced: Chris Bates’ Red 5 will be playing two shows this fall! There will be new tunes featured as I work towards creating a new album in 2020. Join us for the All Originals Jazz Series at Studio Z on October 3rd and at the WideSpot Arts Center in Stockhom, WI on November 23rd. Tickets available!

Get out there and engage yourself in active participation! Be well! – cb