FARGO — You may think a working jazz musician moving from New York City to Fargo in 1972 would be a step or two in the wrong direction.
When John DiFiore got settled into the Red River Valley, the saxophonist realized just how right the move was.
“If you’re not a name in New York, you don’t play jazz,” he said last week. “It gave me a chance to play more jazz than in New York.”
John DiFiore performs with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
For more than 50 years he not only played jazz regularly, but taught music around the region, making an indelible impact on young musicians and music fans alike.
The Kicks Band of Fargo Moorhead — in which the tenor saxophonist has been playing since the outfit started in 1975 — honors the musician with a toast concert Wednesday night at TAK Music Venue in Dilworth.
“I guess because I’m old,” DiFiore said when asked how the program came about.
John DiFiore performs with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
He doesn’t feel old when he plays and aging hasn’t affected his performance.
“It doesn’t change. You just keep practicing and keep getting better and get more mature in your playing,” he said.
In addition to playing tenor sax, he also plays clarinet and flute.
Pianist David Ferreira performs with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
After graduating from studying clarinet 1965 at the Manhattan School of Music, he would tour with “ghost bands,” acts that carried on under the name and style of the former leader. He played with Lee Castle & The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and Buddy DeFranco & The Glenn Miller Orchestra.
On a 1965 tour with the Jimmy Dorsey Band, playing a residency at Breezy Point Resort in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, he met a woman, Susan who would become his wife. The couple lived in New York for a few years, but decided to settle down in the Midwest and moved to Fargo in 1972.
The music scene wasn’t as diverse as in New York, but he found musicians like trumpeter Dick Shook, pianist David Ferreira, bassist Bill Law and drummer Mike Blake, and they would play regularly at the Old Broadway. He would also share the stage with the late guitarist James Condell and play in the R&B band Mike and the Monsters for 11 years and the Jazz Arts Group under Kyle Mack.
“It was different than it is now,” he said. “Now we have so many great players who’ve come to town like Russell Peterson, Matt Patnnode and Tom Strait. They’ve changed the scene quite a bit. It’s more exciting than it was in 1972.”
Matthew Patnode performs with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
DiFiore also taught at Minnesota State University of Moorhead, Mayville State University and Valley City State University, as well as holding residencies and workshops in high schools around the area.
Patnode met DiFiore in 1999 when he joined the Jazz Arts Group as a baritone saxophonist. The two would jokingly bond about being from New York — DiFiore from the city and Patnode from upstate — and later form their own group, New York Tenors.
“John is, in jazz parlance, a Tenor man. He’s the quintessential jazz man from old school swing bands,” Patnode said. “He’s a great soloist in the great swing style, like Dexter Gordon, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.”
Ryan Livdahl plays bass with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
At Wednesday’s concert, DiFiore will be featured on a swing, shuffle take on The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman,” Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” and Cole Porter’s”I Concentrate on You.”
“His playing is always very soulful,” said Tim Johnson, the music director and executive director for Kicks Band of Fargo Moorhead. “He likes to use a lot of interesting patterns. He says a whole lot when he plays. He’s really down to earth. You don’t get a lot of frills or bells and whistles.”
DiFiore is looking forward to playing with old friends, but he’s not looking forward to hearing speeches about himself, which he said may be, “awkward.”
“It’s good to celebrate these older musicians who have traveled and played gigs their whole lives,” Patnode said.
Mark Demull plays drums with the New York Tenors jazz group on Monday, Sept. 16, 2025, at Sidestreet Grille and Pub in Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
“We always celebrate people after they pass. He’s playing up a storm now. I want to toast him so he can enjoy it,” Johnson said, adding that he’d like to celebrate more of the area’s great living musicians.
While he may not be looking forward to people singing his praise, DiFiore appreciates the sentiment, especially coming from his musical peers.
“It’s nice, I feel honored,” he said. “I’m no longer a big fish in a small pond.”
What: John DiFiore toast concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: TAK Music Venue, Dilworth
Info: Tickets are $23.18 for this all-ages show.
For almost 30 years John Lamb has been covering arts and entertainment in the Red River Valley. He started writing for the High Plains Reader in 1997 and moved to The Forum in 2002. He is an Annenberg fellow, an occasional judge for talent shows and food contestants and co-hosts the weekly “Gardening Together: The Podcast.” He’s rubbed shoulders with Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, drank with National Book Award winner Colm McCann, had coffee with Grammy-winning classical musician Peter Schickele and interviewed countless other artists, actors, musicians, writers and assorted interesting people. Contact John at jlamb@forumcomm.com.