Welcome to After Hours, a new monthly jazz show! Each month, I'll tiptoe into the studios after everyone else goes home to host some of my favorite jazz players from the Twin Cities and beyond with help from my co-producer and engineer Evan Clark. We'll get the artists to play a couple of tunes, have a chat about what inspires them, and explore all of the connections, collaborations, and crossovers that make this part of the music community so exciting and unique.

For the first installment of this new series, Evan and I wanted to bring in a group that was also at the beginning of a new endeavor, so we called up the young Minneapolis jazz quintet Endeavors. You'll recognize many of these players from around town--including the core trio of Nelson Devereaux, Joe Strachan, and Miguel Hurtado, who previously performed with Brian Courage as Courageous Endeavors and as neo-soul vocalist Alicia Steele's backing band. Now, with the help of Jake Baldwin on trumpet and Ryan Hays on bass, they have re-emerged with a fresh batch of songs that they say emerged during "a collective brain-blast of dark, winter-like inspiration."

At the time this session was recorded, this new configuration of Endeavors had only performed publicly once, and you can hear their newfound excitement and energy in their performance.

Songs Performed

"Games We Play"
"What We've Learned"

Hosted by Andrea Swensson
Produced by Evan Clark and Andrea Swensson
Engineered by Evan Clark
After Hours Theme by Andrea Swensson, performed by Endeavors

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