We had a really nice evening of drinks and Jazz at Crooners Supper Club in Fridley, Minnesota. Crooners is one of the best places in Minnesota to see live jazz performances.
Our friends Steve Larson and Louann Denniss are jazz aficianados. They invited us to go with them to Crooners back in 2022 and we had a great time that night. So when they asked us to join them again to see singer Maud Hixon and pianist Rick Carlson for a show celebrating the music of George and Ira Gershwin, we jumped at the chance.
About Crooners: In the summer of 2014, newly married Mary Tjosvold, a Minneapolis businesswoman and Larry Dunsmore an accomplished jazz pianist decided to buy the Shorewood Bar and Grill building on Moore Lake, just outside the city limits of Minneapolis. In just a few months, they transformed the old Shorewood space into a top notch live music venue.
Sadly, Larry Dunsmore passed away from cancer less than a year later. Mary continued the development of Crooners and named the first music showroom the ‘Dunsmore Room’ in his honor.
This is not a great photo of Rick Carlson and Maud Hixon, but it does show what a nice space the Dunsmore room is.
From Maud’s bio: “Hailed as “gently virtuosic” (All About Jazz), singer Maud Hixson is a devoted exponent of great songs, ranging from the classic Great American Songbook to the often unsung or forgotten compositions awaiting rediscovery.
The music was great on this night. Maud Hixson chose a good mix of well-known and lesser known songs, which she interspersed with stories about the Gershwin brothers and the times they lived in, engancing our appreciation of the composers and their music.
It was a lovely evening in the company of lovely friends, Steve and Louann. Thank you for letting us tag along!
(It was so cute to watch Louann swoon while Steve crooned all the way home.)
Our big night out!
Have you ever seen a cuter couple?