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Madison, Wisconsin Jazz Fest
Madison, Wisconsin Jazz Fest
Date Posted: April 03 2009
Written By: chicago jazz
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Wisconsin’s capital city will become the jazz capital of the Midwest when jazz fans from all over the country converge on Madison to hear non stop jazz at the 21st annual Capital City Jazz Fest sponsored by the Madison Jazz Society. It will be held at the Madison Quality Inn & Suites, 2969 Cahill Main, Fitchburg. This year's event will feature jazz artists from all over the country performing a broad range of jazz styles. More than 500 jazz fans are expected to attend. A Friday evening session (April 24) will open the fest. Other sessions will be held Saturday afternoon and evening (April 25) and Sunday afternoon (April 26).
Four jazz bands will perform over the weekend. Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band will be making its fourth appearance at the fest. In its 19th year of existence, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band started essentially as a “kicks” band, collecting and playing the arrangements of Matty Matlock and Billy Maxted. A Classic Jazz Band performance is much like attending a symposium on the history of jazz. The audience is apt to hear anything from Jelly Roll Morton to Count Basie and all the stops in between. The band uses the five-horn front line typical of such bands as those of Matlock, Maxted, Red Nichols and the World’s Greatest Jazz Band.
Wisconsin natives Bob Schulz and Bob Hirsch, now living in California, will lead an all star group. Both have appeared at the Fest before but this will be the first time they will co-lead
a group. Schulz (from Wonewoc) began his career with Wisconsin’s Riverboat Ramblers. He played with the famous Turk Murphy until Turk’s death and now leads his own Frisco Jazz Band. He is adept at playing New Orleans traditional jazz, San Francisco style or swing jazz. He is one of the most sought after horn players in jazz today. Bob Hirsch’s (from Viroqua) stride piano playing has taken him throughout the world as a guest performer. He also led his own band for 20 years, co-led the Saunders-Hirsch All Stars for 25 years and played with the Fulton St Jazz Band 17 years and the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine 9 years.
Wisconsin’s own Chuck Hedges will bring his Milwaukee Connection to the fest for their first appearance. Chuck Hedges’ Milwaukee Connection is a swing group with a style that is a creative extension of the hot swing and mainstream era, with the classic instrumentation of the Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton sound. Hedges played with George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier and the Bill Reinhardt Band at the famous Jazz Ltd in Chicago and has spent most of his life producing a fine sound, good technique and jazz feel on is clarinet. Joining Hedges group as a special guest will be Eric Schneider. Long an institution in the Chicago jazz scene, tenor-saxophonist Schneider is often referred to as an unsung jazz talent who, without garnering headlines, has been playing top-notch jazz for 30 years. He was a member of the Earl Hines Quartet from 1979-82 and he toured with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1982-83.
Rounding out the fest line-up will be a group from Minnesota that is led by a 22-year old jazz guitar phenom. Sammo Miltich and the Clearwater Hot Club are dedicated to preserving and performing the music of the late, great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. Sammo and his father, Matthew, have been performing since Sammo first learned to play the guitar at age
13. The Clearwater Hot Club was put together in 2003 and has toured in the U.S., Canada and Japan, including appearances at Django Fest Northwest and the 1st Annual Ginza International Jazz Festival in Japan. Sammo appeared at the Society’s 2006 Fest with Mehling’s Gypsy Jazz Summit, impressing all attending.
Two jazz worship celebrations will be held Sunday morning B at Westminster Presbyterian Church and at First United Methodist Church, Madison. In addition to the music, the fest's Jazz Mall will have books, records, cassette tapes, CDs, videos, jazz clothing and souvenirs for sale throughout the event.
Tickets will be available at the door 30 minutes before each session begins. Advance tickets ($130 for Friend of the Fest; $32 per session) are available by mail only; the single session price increases to $35 at the door. For more information, call (608) 850 5400 or go to www.madisonjazz.com.
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