Leading his all-star big band packed with local sidemen legends, showman Andrew Walesch kidnaps the Blue Eyes tradition and makes it his own in his jazz-bent Sinatra revue that jams venues all over the Midwest and beyond with a uniquely cross-generational audience.
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Like a good many before him, singer and pianist Andrew Walesch somehow manages to encapsulate the sophistication of a cosmopolite and the self-effacing charm of a country boy.
Whether composing and arranging or appearing in settings ranging from solo artist to big band, this St. Cloud, Minnesota native, who criss-crosses the bold North playing dates big and small, is as respectful of his predecessors as he is ready to take a leap into the unknown and chart a new course.
In his monthly, sold-out shows with his 10-piece band, Walesch is a traditionalist and an iconoclast rolled into one. His audiences include jazz enthusiasts of a certain age, as well as a younger crowd compelled by his down-home insouciance, and the knowing irreverence of a tried-and-true American nightclub entertainer. “Although they are my idols, I don’t attempt to imitate the great pop and jazz artists of the 50’s and 60’s,” says the singer and pianist, “but I go for broke when we do our shows - vocally and musically - which is what they all did best and why they were in a class of their own. I take risks, but I’m from Minnesota, so I’ve got jumper cables in the trunk.”
His vocal and piano chops, along with his keen sensibility to find and interpret a great lyric, have lead to some great opportunities for Walesch, including an appearance on the nationally syndicated NPR broadcast Mountain Stage
