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Todd M. Carlsen

Todd M. Carlsen writes about American music.

About Me

I am a professional analyst in Minnesota and also write about music. As a former youth choir soloist, I am deeply drawn to the profound expressiveness of vocal jazz, alongside instrumental jazz, outlaw country, and popular music. My decades as a critic-level listener of jazz were shaped by years of tuning into Leigh Kamman's The Jazz Image on MPR. Following that foundation, I listened to albums, artists, listened more. I wrote about music for the newspapers in southwest Minneapolis metropolitan area when Let's Go was published. I applied the same analytical discipline I bring to my professional work to a 2025 jazz history project, curating a 600-song canonical playlist. While Miles Davis is the best, my favorite is John Coltrane.