This episode is dedicated to my jazz-loving wife and father-in-law.
Sorry it's taken so long to get another podcast out. "Life is what happens when we're making other plans." Overtime, family gallbladder operation, and a graduation conspired against me. Something had to give, and it was the podcast. I'll try to get it back to every two weeks.
At a casual glance, one might not think much about Iowa's jazz scene. The fans and players are not nearly as numerous as, say the rock, alternative, or even the blues scene.
But what it lacks in numbers, it more than makes up on dedication. Many of the colleges have Jazz departments. And the ones, that may not be big enough to have a jazz department, will often have one member of the music department dedicated to jazz. And the colleges and college towns, if they don't jazz festivals, will often host Jazz musicians.
Here in Des Moines, we have Jazz in July, a month-long Jazz festival. And the restaurant, Chuck's, features Jazz every Friday and Saturday night. And The Des Moines Social Club has started a monthly show with The NOLA Jazz Band.
At a casual glance, one might not think much about Iowa's jazz scene. The fans and players are not nearly as numerous as, say the rock, alternative, or even the blues scene.
But what it lacks in numbers, it more than makes up on dedication. Many of the colleges have Jazz departments. And the ones, that may not be big enough to have a jazz department, will often have one member of the music department dedicated to jazz. And the colleges and college towns, if they don't jazz festivals, will often host Jazz musicians.
Here in Des Moines, we have Jazz in July, a month-long Jazz festival. And the restaurant, Chuck's, features Jazz every Friday and Saturday night. And The Des Moines Social Club has started a monthly show with The NOLA Jazz Band.
And if that is not enough proof for you, check out Jazzman Joe's YouTube channel, featuring literally 100's of videos of Iowa jazz artists doing their thing
- https://www.youtube.com/user/jazzmanjoe100/videos.
So here in the episode, we present six bands and artists pushing Jazz forward here in Iowa.
