The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant is a jazz club in Twin Cities, Minnesota. The club opened in 1985 at Bandana Square in St. Paul as a restaurant with local jazz in the bar. In 1988, the programming expanded to national artists with performances by McCoy Tyner and Ahmad Jamal. In 2003, the Dakota moved to downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall.
The Dakota gained a national reputation as a jazz presenter, and many of the jazz greats have played there. The list of musicians who have played the Dakota includes Ray Brown, McCoy Tyner, Toots Thielemans, Joey DeFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Chucho Valdés, Benny Green, Joe Williams, Bobby Hutcherson, Roy Haynes, Arturo Sandoval, Wallace Roney, Charles Lloyd, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Fortune, Frank Morgan, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, Joshua Redman, James Carter, Madeleine Peyroux, Regina Carter, Patricia Barber, Von Freeman, Billy Higgins and Charles Brown.
Von Freeman, Nachito Herrera and Barbara Morrison have recorded live at the Dakota Jazz Club.
The Dakota started expanding from a pure jazz schedule through an affinity for New Orleans. Dr. John was performing solo shows at the Dakota when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and soon after, they began a policy of bringing Louisiana artists to the Dakota as close to monthly as possible. Since then, they have presented Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Aaron Neville, Charles Neville, Charmaine Neville, John Boutte, Jon Cleary, Irma Thomas, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Subdudes, Bonerama, Preservation Hall, CJ Chenier, Zachary Richard, and more. New Orleans naturally spreads into blues and other forms of American music, and they've presented Honey Boy Williams, Pinetop Perkins, Super Chikan, Duke Robilliard, Marty Stuart, Rosanne Cash, Dan Penn and Bobby Emmons.
Shows are now pretty eclectic in range. Recent shows include -
Prince, Judy Collins, Stacey Kent, Lucinda Williams, Philip Glass Bob Mould, Rickie Lee Jones, Suzanne Vega, Cowboy Junkies, Joe Henry, Raul Malo, Alex Cuba, Bettye LaVette, Angelique Kidjo, Dan Wilson, Shawn Colvin, CeU, Bebel Gilberto, Mavis Staples, Rachelle Ferrell, Mike Doughty, Josh Rouse, Anoushka Shankar, Shelby Lynne, Madeleine Peyroux, Raul Midon, Max Weinberg, Asleep at the Wheel, Tower of Power, Ely Guerra ("Best Alternative" at 2010 Latin Grammy), Aimee Mann, Nick Lowe, Katie Melua, Jimmy Webb, Ruthie Foster, Pieta Brown, The Pines, Ronnie Spector, Brian McKnight, James Hunter, Vusi Mahlesela, Lizz Wright, Les Nubians, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Iris Dement .....
Food at the Dakota
The Dakota originally opened primarily as a restaurant with jazz that featured jazz in the bar. Even though music has become what it is now most widely known for, food has continued to be a significant part of the Dakota. The Dakota was one of the first Minnesota restaurants featuring "farm-to-table," working closely with Minnesota growers and developing a new "Midwestern Cuisine" under original Chef Ken Goff. The Dakota was one of three midwestern restaurants (along with Prairie in Chicago) to be featured in a major New York Times article about the emergence of a regional cuisine in the Midwest. Since then, the Dakota has continued to emphasize fresh ingredients from sustainable sources and continues its creative culinary approach.
"What’s the most underrated restaurant in Minnesota? It’s gotta be the Dakota. Everyone knows the Nicollet jazz-and-dining venue for its world-class music, but does anyone pay attention to the world-class food being produced by young co-chefs Kristin Tyborski and Derik Moran? We should be paying attention, because this is good stuff." - Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, Sept 18, 2013