{"id":216582,"date":"2026-01-02T13:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T13:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216582\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T13:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T13:03:09","slug":"jada-brown-brings-love-letter-to-her-ojibwe-roots-at-fine-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216582\/","title":{"rendered":"Jada Brown brings love letter to her Ojibwe roots at Fine Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ring in the new year with arts and music events across the Twin Cities. Highlights include a show at the Fine Line featuring Native musicians, hoop dancing and Indigenous fashion; saxophonist Karl Denson performing two jazz shows at the Dakota; and a mini-comics workshop led by a Peruvian artist at the Eastside Food Co-op.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Singer-songwriter Jada Brown will perform with her live band as part of the Anishinaabe Music and Arts Celebration at the Dakota on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025. Credit: Provided<\/p>\n

Twin Cities rapper Jada Brown turns grief into song <\/p>\n

Local Native artists will take over the Fine Line on Saturday for KOJB\u2019s third annual Anishinaabe Music and Arts Celebration<\/a>. The daylong event will feature Indigenous hoop dancing, a fashion show and music sets from folk and blues musician Keith Secola<\/a>, singer-songwriter Annie Humphrey<\/a>, rapper Tall Paul<\/a> and rock band Shadows in Stereo<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time, singer-songwriter Jada Brown<\/a> is bringing her own full live band to the stage to flesh out her modern soul blend of R&B and hip-hop, drawing inspiration from artists including Amy Winehouse and Erykah Badu.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown grew up in St. Michael, Minnesota, and is Ojibwe through her grandfather, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. She began singing and dancing at home before performing on Twin Cities stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a teenager \u201cmusic really helped me become more expressive and confident in my story as a shy person,\u201d she said. \u201cOjibwe\u2019s worldview is that we all come here with gifts and it\u2019s important to honor those gifts. So I feel like music is something I will always embark on.\u201d<\/p>\n

After moving to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota and immerse herself in the city\u2019s music scene, Brown released her soulful debut album, \u201cAdmiration<\/a>\u201d in 2019. But her 2024 EP \u201cFar From Anonymous<\/a>\u201d marked a turn toward rap \u2014 a shift inspired by the death of her partner, Travis James Varney Jr., to a fentanyl overdose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGrief isn\u2019t an event. It\u2019s a process and there\u2019s a lot of grief in Indigenous communities with the opioid crisis going on,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI wanted to use my gift of singing to not only help myself but help others who are experiencing that pain of losing someone to fentanyl.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EP\u2019s tracklist functions as a series of love letters to the support system that kept her afloat. On \u201cAuntie\u2019s Advice,\u201d Brown taps into the intergenerational wisdom of the women in her family. Meanwhile, \u201cFirst Steps\u201d finds her dissecting her own relationship with her father to help process the legacy her late partner left behind for his own children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have come up to me and told me that they lost their loved ones to fentanyl and that the song spoke to them or helped them in a certain way,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThat lets me know the songs are doing what they\u2019re meant to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After performing at reservations and communities across the state, Brown is ready to scale up. At the KOJB showcase, she\u2019ll perform new music that tackles relationships and the act of taking up space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Karl Denson is bringing his band, Tiny Universe, to the Dakota in Minneapolis for two evening shows of funk, jazz, blues and soul. Credit: Provided<\/p>\n

Karl Denson\u2019s Tiny Universe<\/p>\n

Saxophonist and singer Karl Denson<\/a> has been making music for more than 40 years, and he brings his band, Tiny Universe, to the Dakota in Minneapolis for two evening shows<\/a> of funk, jazz, blues and soul. Denson toured with Lenny Kravitz from the late 1980s through 2008 and played with the Rolling Stones in the 2010s. Known for his improvisation and rhythmic performances, he\u2019s played festivals from New Orleans Jazz Fest and Japan\u2019s Fuji Rock to Bonnaroo in Tennessee and San Francisco\u2019s Outside Lands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Artist Albert Chacon Salas will lead a mini-comic book workshop at the Eastside Food Co-op on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

Telling stories in panels<\/p>\n

Minneapolis-based Peruvian artist Albert Chacon Salas<\/a> will lead a mini-comic book workshop<\/a> at the Eastside Food Co-op on Sunday, guiding participants through creating panels, sequencing stories and developing character-driven narratives. Salas\u2019 work explores human relationships with animals through fantastical and science fiction comics, as well as mixed-media pieces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Date: Sunday, Jan. 4<\/p>\n

Time: 3 to 5 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Location: 2551 Northeast Central Ave., Minneapolis<\/p>\n

Cost: Free. RSVP required.\u00a0For more information: Visit eastsidefood.coop\/events-1\/panel-play<\/a><\/p>\n

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