Experience a sampling of some of the best recently released Jazz recordings to come out of Minnesota's thriving Twin Cities Jazz Scene. This CD is a one-stop-shop to get a perspective of 13 actively preforming and recording Twin Cities Jazz ensembles. The Jazz Scene in the Twin Cities is remarkable and thriving and has never before been the operating base for as large and diverse a number of world-class ensembles actively performing, rehearsing and producing outstanding recorded products as is the case right now. Even though we just suffered the closing of a treasured historic full-time Jazz venue, there presently happens to be more performance opportunities for ensembles performing original Jazz than at any other time I can remember. This is evidenced by the increasing health of new venues like Jazz Central Studios, with performances Monday through Friday, and the co-existing grant funded concert series at chamber music spaces like Studio Z and SWEET 317, as well as Saturday Night Jazz at The Black Dog, JT's Jazz Implosion Mondays at ICEHOUSE Minneapolis, and Sundays at the Riverview Cafe to mention a few. The rationale behind the creation of The Twin Cities Jazz Sampler Volume One is to increase the listening public's awareness of the breadth and quality of the ensembles that they are likely to hear performing live in our community at the present time and to introduce audiences to a set of some of the best recently released Jazz recordings by these groups. Each track in this collection is sourced from selected separately available products that were recorded and produced in the Twin Cities in the last couple of years featuring Twin Cities based Jazz artists, composers, producers and record companies. This collection of releases also highlights the quality and professionalism of a critical mass of active recording studios, technicians and graphic artists working today in the Twin Cities and surrounding communities to provide the infrastructure to allow for the regular creation of these state-of-the-art offerings. So enjoy the tracks on this CD and using the information provided here, seek out the source recordings and get to know the ensembles and musicians featured. These are but a sampling of the artists and groups you can very easily find performing in the Twin Cities area on a weekly basis. There is a joy to getting to know the recorded works of Jazz artists and ensembles, and then taking the opportunity to see them perform live. Part of what made Jazz's storied and legendary history so exalted is that those hallowed classic Jazz artists were making seminal recordings while still regularly appearing in small clubs, exactly as I am witnessing in the Twin Cities Jazz scene right now. If you profess to like Jazz music, then let this CD serve as a wake-up call to the fact that the present day represents perhaps the best ever era of Twin Cities Jazz, and that right now is a wonderful time to be a collector of this music and to catch these gigs happening around town. Steve Kenny, December, 2014