The month of June, 2010 marked the debut of an alternate venue for the Nova Jazz Orchestra. It’s the Shorewood Bar & Grill in Fridley, MN. In lieu of playing at O’Gara’s for the rest of the summer, we’ll be playing at the Shorewood in July and August, on the 27th and 24th respectively. See how to get to the Shorewood here. Note that we start playing at 7pm! We’ll play until 10. See you there — we are excited to be playing this new venue.

Coming up next month, the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra will assist in performing an original musical production titled “Dreaming of America.” The work is by one of our talented alto saxophonists, Kari Musil. All information is listed below. Save the date, mark your calendar, and otherwise take note!

• What: Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and Humboldt Band present “Dreaming of America”
• When: Sunday, May 2nd, 3:00pm
• Where: Paul and Sheila Wellstone Neighborhood House • 179 Robie Street East, St. Paul
• Admission: Donations accepted

There will be a reception following featuring artwork by 7th graders, plus food & drink by BC2 Bakery.

Just a reminder: Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra’s “Battle of Big Bands” concert with the Acme Jazz Company will be broadcast on Jazz88’s Big Band Scene—soon—on Monday, March 22nd at 7pm. The show will be re-broadcast on Sunday the 28th, also at 7pm.

Then, this Tuesday, March 23, Nova plays its monthly O’ Gara’s gig at 8pm. Join us there!

You can read a review of our recent CD, A Time of Reckoning here at the All About Jazz website.

Remember, you can purchase A Time of Reckoning at CD Baby or on iTunes.

Below, more pictures. Click on a thumbnail image to zoom it larger.

If you came out to our recent show with Acme Jazz Company at Minnetonka High, thanks for your support. We sincerely hope you enjoyed the music. In the next battle, we hope to work in marshmallow bazookas in some way.

Then, on February 4th at 7:30pm: It’s Jazz 88’s/Big Band Scene’s awesome Battle of the Big Bands in which we’ll be taking on the Acme Jazz Company. The music to be featured comes from composers associated with both groups, including Doug Rasmussen, Bob Parsons, Lance Strickland, Paul Peterson, John Ahern, and Bob Byers.

• What: Battle of the Big Bands, Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra vs. Acme Jazz Company
• When: Thursday, February 4, 7:30pm
• Where: Minnetonka High School (18301 Highway 7)
• Admission: General:$10, Members of Jazz88:$8, Students:$5
• More info: 651-633-7178

This concert will be recorded for future broadcast on “Big Band Scene” on KBEM/Jazz 88. No jousting will take place.

Nova’s new recording, A Time of Reckoning, is now available on iTunes. This means that you can buy tracks from our CD “a la carte,” if you care to. As with other offerings in iTunes, the tracks are encoded in high-quality ACC format, ready to go on your iPod.

To find us on iTunes, you’ll need iTunes installed on your computer. (If you happen to use an iPhone or iPod Touch, you’ve already got iTunes, of course.)

Simply search for Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra at the iTunes store, or follow this link.