Evento

Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series presents LuLu's Playground

Steven Hobert writes the music and leads the group FireFlyForest with music that swirls and sways through a magical landscape of haunting harmonies, driving grooves, playful interaction, symphonic arrangements and simple folk melodies. Steven recently completed a year tour through Japan, Canada and the United States with the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra. He has performed with a number of symphony orchestras including Calgary, Detroit, and Buffalo, conducted the band for vocal group 5-by-Design on several tours, played on cruise ships in the Carribean, and in production shows at Dorney Amusement Park in Allenton, PA. Steven holds a Bachelor of Music Liberal Arts and minor in Piano Pedagogy from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and resides in Minneapolis as a free-lance musician and teacher playing piano, accordion, and woodwinds and making people smile.

Adam Meckler is a professional trumpet player, composer and educator living in Saint Paul, MN. He holds a B.Mus in Jazz Studies from Lawrence University, and a M.M in Trumpet Performance from the University of Minnesota. He has studied composition with some of the finest composers in the world including Fred Sturm, Dean Sorenson, Doug Richards, and Richard Sussman. Meckler has toured all over the world with Todd Clouser's A Love Electric (Ropeadope Records, Royal Potato Family Records), The Jana Nyberg Group led by his wife, Jana Nyberg, and the Jack Brass Band. He plays regularly with his quintet, the Adam Meckler Quintet, and his big band The Adam Meckler Orchestra, and also plays regularly with The Graydon Peterson Quartet, Lulu's Playground, The Nexus Ensemble, The Brass Barn Polka Band, The Good The Bad The Funky, and The Pete Whitman X-Tet.

Evan Montgomery is a guitarist, composer, and instructor currently living in Minneapolis, MN. Since graduating from Lawrence University in 2009, Evan has been performing all over the Midwest with a variety of groups, including Lulu's Playground, the Jana Nyberg Group, The Adam Meckler Orchestra, and his own quintet. In the Fall, Evan will be moving to Los Angeles, CA to pursue his MFA in Jazz Guitar at CalArts under the tutelage of Larry Koonse, Charlie Haden, and Joe LaBarbera, as well as many others.

Cory Grossman is a freelance cellist and teacher based in Minneapolis. Since completing his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence University (WI) in 2009, he has performed in a wide variety of settings including jazz, hip hop, spoken word, classical, country, avant-garde, rock, pop and a number of independent film scores. Cory specializes in performing improvised music, as well as transcribing, composing and arranging.