5/21/2010: City High and West High Jazz Programs
Under the direction of Michael Moehlmann, the City High Little Hawks Jazz Program will be playing their 6th Friday Night Concert Series. The Little Hawks play at multiple venues each year, and always look forward to the opportunity to play on the Ped Mall. Rich Medd directs the dynamic West High Trojan Jazz Ensemble, presenting their top two jazz ensembles. The Friday Night Concert Series is a great opportunity for the students to get out and share their music with each other and the community.
5/28/2010: 20th Anniversary Reunion Show featuring Dave Moore, David Zollo & The Body Electric, and Shame Train, Sponsored by Lepic-Kroeger Realtors
Dave Moore began playing music at the age of 20 when he was given a harmonica by his mother. A native of Cedar Rapids, Moore eventually settled in Iowa City after many youthful years of adventure, travel, and working-class jobs. Falling in with Iowa City friends and acquaintances, Dave maintains decidedly Iowan collaborations in his music making, despite his national reputation. A frequent guest of NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Café, and Live from the Mountain Stage, Moore’s original voice, writing, and musical style – although collected from many influences, are easily identified as his own. He also works with the Iowa Arts Council and has been recognized for his contributions to child literacy within Iowa.
Equipped with a 'rode hard and put away wet,' whiskey-soaked rasp and a deep bag of keyboard chops that echoes some of the greats of country, rhythm & blues and gut-bucket rock, David Zollo brings the kind of savvy, trans-genre synthesis you might expect from a grizzled road warrior twenty or more years his senior. Zollo has always been ahead of the curve. He began playing the piano at the age of four and, steeped in his writer/journalist daddy's eclectic record collection, the kid with an "old soul" was regaling family house parties with knockout Ray Charles and Huey "Piano" Smith covers by his early teens. Zollo founded a hell-raising quintet that fused the Stones, Southern rock and alt-rock'n'countryin the early '90s. Over the next five years, the band careened across the Midwest, playing over 200 gigs per annum and releasing three discs along the way. While Zollo's abilities as an arranger and bandleader are more subtle, his gifts as a singer, songwriter and musician are impossible to miss.
Self diagnosed with “songwriter’s disease”, Shame Train front man Sam Knutson released Same Train and the Devil’s Square Quilt upon the world in the year 2000. 10 storied years of gigs, friends, albums, and personnel switches later, the fun and debaucherous group solidified into the ensemble it is today. Sometimes called roots rock, sometimes called "real country", the band’s melodic and stylistic approach impresses audiences and fellow bands alike. This tight knit veteran laden group has musicianship to spare, and is back to sharing their creativity to the community with a fervor.
6/11/2010: Bambu and Awful Purdies
Bambu, a Friday Night Concert Series favorite, will be returning to the Weatherdance Fountain stage in 2010. From rural Iowa, they bring music from well beyond our borders to Iowa City with their reggae laden world beats. The group has been composing their own music for well over 10 years, crafting a family friendly audience experience that no one should miss.
A 5 piece all female band of singers and songwriters, the Awful Purdies’ original music is as diverse as the backgrounds of the women in the group. To say they play one genre of music would be wrong, but to say that they play their kind of music would only be a start. From Upchurch's story telling bluegrass tunes and Roche's word-heavy tangential songs to Rosenbaum's a capella testimonials and Burnes and Savage's soaring string compositions, the Awful Purdies are always a surprise.
6/18/2010: The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Featuring The Diplomettes, Sponsored by Herteen & Stocker Jewelers
The Diplomats of Solid Sound have been mining Americas vast deposits of soul music to create a sound all their own -- a spare-but-spicy groove sired equally by progenitors such as Booker T., James Brown and The Funk Brothers. After three full-length releases as an instrumental outfit, the Diplomats of Solid Sound expanded the family in 07 with the addition of The Diplomettes for a whole new set of soul stunners. The girls invoke the sound of The Ikettes, the Raylettes, maybe a little funky Marva Whitney in front of the DOSS' trademark heavy funk artillery. This supercharged group is a dance party in a jewel box, guaranteed to groove its way into your head and your feet -- and get both moving fast! Its sound is both new and old. Timeless. Soul.
June 25: Iowa Summer Music Camp Jazz Combos
The 58th annual Iowa Summer Music Camps (formerly known as the Iowa All-State Music Camps) offers students musical training and experience beyond what may available in their home schools, including group instruction, masterclasses, and classroom instruction in most phases of instrumental music. The entire program, together with a preview of life on a major university campus, is an invaluable experience for young people, not only in music but also in human relation.
The jazz division gives students opportunities to interact and perform with professional jazz musicians throughout a week of music-making in small group/combo settings. Areas of study will include jazz improvisation, jazz theory, basic arranging skills, Soundpainting, and the art of jazz listening.
July 9: Euforquestra, Sponsored by Vangent
Originally from Iowa City, IA, recently relocated to Fort Collins, CO, Eufórquestra (pronounced "yoo-fohr-keh-struh" -euphoria+orchestra) has been touring more than ever and is continuing to take its progressive, genre-crossing afro-jazz-funk fusions to new horizons. Emerging as a musical powerhouse, Eufórquestra is quickly spreading its self-proclaimed “Afro-Caribbean-Barnyard-Funk;” a unique, rhythmic blend of sound, integrating such genres as Afrobeat, Reggae, Afro-Cuban, Samba, Soca, Funk, Salsa, and Dub. Eufórquestra’s music appeals to anyone and everyone, with a sound that “explodes, dances and melts in your ear with sheer bliss” (Chris M. Slawecki; AllAboutJazz.com). As percussionist and lead vocalist Matt Grundstad puts it, "Eufórquestra just wants to make people dance.
7/16/20: The Recliners and Turkana
The Recliners play such a wide variety of music that they are hard to classify. If there were a category labeled “contemporary Acoustic-Pop-Folk-Rock-Turkish”, this group would certainly top the list. Within their repertoire there is something for everyone, from classic ’60s and ’70s numbers to songs by contemporary singer-songwriters, from traditional and modern Turkish tunes to American folk songs, Irish melodies, from Van Morrison to the edgy rock and traditional ballads of Richard Thompson.
Established in the fall of 1997, Turkana is comprised of Turkish and American musicians who perform Turkish music. With a goal to add its own threads to the world’s musical tapestry and, the band introduces Turkish music to audiences throughout the United States. With roots deeply seated in Turkish culture and tradition, their rhythms and melodies reflect the richness and diversity of musical life in Turkey. Performing their own compositions as well as music that is popular in Turkey, the band utilizes modern and authentic acoustic instruments, the band has been featured by many local NPR stations.
7/23/2010: B.F. Burt & the Instigators, Sponsored by Bradley & Riley PC
This high energy band serves up a funky musical cocktail of a cold shot of blues with a splash of funk, a soul mixer and R&B cherry. B.F. Burt & The Investigators perform a Blues repertoire of old and new songs.
7/30/2010: Amanda Miller & the Smoking Sextion and Dr. Z's Experiment, Sponsored by Rick Zimmerman
Amanda Miller & the Smoking Sextion consists of 9 talented musicians from Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport. This R&B/Soul/Funk band plays some well-known and not-so-well known tunes by artists such as Michael Jackson, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, and Aretha Franklin, just to name a few. With their high energy and soulful sounds, you'll want to be sure to get up and dance. After their first show, this group was asked to play for Friday Night Concert Series - and once you experience this, you will understand why!
Dr. Z's Experiment – rock/Americana band
8/6/2010: Burlington Street BluegrassSponsored by Flip Side Salon
The Burlington Street Bluegrass Band is a testament to what can happen in a town with a vibrant musical community. With about two hundred years of professional experience between them, and some pretty darn impressive musical resumes, the band is a collection of some of Iowa’s most treasured musicians. Featuring Bob Black on banjo, Alan Murphy on fiddle, Aleta Murphy on standup bass, Joe Peterson on mandolin, and Mark Wilson on guitar, the band plays bluegrass and country music straight-up, with hot pickin’, harmonizing and good humor.
8/13/2010: The Beaker Brothers, Sponsored by Blick Art Materials
The Beaker Brothers music has been inspired by everyone from Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix to The Grateful Dead. They have gone back in time to jam bands where rock, jazz, blues and Latin music took over. Their music has been labeled as, post-psychedelic, proto-alternative, protest music, and retro. They have been playing music that has been in their heads and hearts since they were first inspired. This is not your father's rock band. No, wait, maybe it is. Anyway, we're sure you're gonna dig it.
8/27/2010: Orquesta Alto Maiz, Sponsored by Iowa Book
Known as “the salsa band” Orchestra Alto Maiz is an Iowa City favorite. This eleven piece Latin-jazzdance band plays a wide range of Latin musical styles, including merengue, samba, cha-chacha, salsa, calypso, and boleros. This music represents twenty years of musical evolution for the members on stage and the faithful throng of dancers and fans.
9/10/2010: Uniphonics and Minus Six
Formed in May 2007, the Uniphonics have toured venues and festivals across the Midwest. Imagine a sound that consolidates a plethora of musical styles into a tightly wound groove. Innovative jazz-funk infused hip-hop combined with MC Animosity’s passionate lyrics creates a dance party atmosphere for everyone. Expect an interactive high energy performance that breaks the barrier between the musicians and audience. Join the rest of The Uniphonics Family and become a part of the show.
During each show, piano-rock group Minus Six opens up their hazy, mythical world and invites everyone in the crowd to explore with them. Climbing through a window to a temporary escape, audiences fall in love, fall out of love, dream, play, grow up, run away, and try to make the world a better place. Concert-goers don’t only get live music, but experience Broadway-worthy performances, Chaucer-esque story-telling, swing dancing, slow dancing, sing-a-longs, and even some “More Cowbell”. With every chord, cymbal, and note, Minus Six succeeds in sharing its energy and euphoria on the stage with the audience.
9/17/2010: Big Funk Guarantee, Sponsored by Flip Side Salon
Big Funk Guarantee. It's BIG. Anywhere from 8 to 12 members. It's funk, horns, organ, dirty grooves. It's Guaranteed to bring the good soul music. BFG plays originals with a mix of obscure funk from the 70's and 80's. Big Funk shows are high energy and entertaining. The band involves the audience by creating a loose atmosphere that is very spontaneous and combustable. You won't be disappointed- this funk is guaranteed.