JazzFest on MySpace
JazzFest is a two-day outdoor musical event, July 18-19, 2008 at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls. It features two stages and is free to the public.
Main Stage Performers
Artists schedules are subject to change at any time.
Friday, July 20
Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers 6pm
Rod Piazza has been the driving force behind Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers since 1979. The band recorded their first album in 1980. From that time on up through the present, Rod and his bandmates have released nearly a dozen albums and have toured blues clubs, venues and festivals in the US, Canada, England, Germany and Japan. With his wife Honey Piazza on piano and upright bass player Bill Stuvee, as well as guitarists such as Alex Schultz and Rick Homstrom and drummer Jimmy Bott, their sound combines the styles of Jump Blues, West Coast Blues, and Chicago Blues. Known for their exciting and powerful live performances, Rod Piazza often strolls around the audience, while not missing a note on harmonica, jumps on a bar or counter and duels it out with either the piano or guitar.
The Lee Boys 7:15pm
The Lee Boys are a family band - three brothers and three nephews - at the forefront of "sacred steel" guitar-driven gospel. The Florida sextet's soul-stirring sounds have justly earned a cult following thanks to Roosevelt Collier's inspired pedal-steel playing, leader Alvin Lee's fine Fender work and songwriting skills, Keith and Derrick Lee's full-throttle vocals and lots of happy crossover with the jam band scene.
Watch the Lee Boys live at the Kennedy Center here.
Susan Tedeschi 8:30pm
The multi-talented musician Susan Tedeschi has established a formidable reputation as a deeply expressive singer, a prodigiously talented guitarist and distinctive songwriter. She's won a large and loyal audience for her ability to craft elements of classic blues, rock, R&B, folk and gospel into a distinctly individual style that honors rootsy musical traditions without being subservient to them. Growing up in a Boston suburb, she began singing with local bands at the age of 13 and subsequently pursued her passion for music while studying at Berklee and performing around the local club scene. After establishing herself as one of New England's top-drawing live acts, and making her recording debut with her embryonic 1995 album Better Days, Tedeschi achieved an impressive musical and commercial breakthrough with Just Won't Burn. The album, on the independent Tone-Cool label, became a massive grass-roots success, with a minimum of hype and plenty of old-fashioned word of mouth. "I think it's important to keep learning and trying new things, no matter how old you are or how many records you've done," says Tedeschi.
Derek Trucks Band 10pm
The Derek Trucks Band takes a progressive approach to roots music, blending rock, blues, jazz, and world music into the sound that now defines the DTB. The chemistry between the band members in this ensemble is undeniable, a result of heavy touring and fearless improvisation. The Derek Trucks Band is known for their amazing live performances, led by Trucks' soaring guitar work, and backed by the impressive individual talents of this band. The Derek Trucks Band is supporting their 2006 release "Songlines" as well as their DVD release "Songlines Live", providing further proof of the explosive power of this live juggernaut. Just 27 years old, Trucks has forged a name for himself over the years as an innovative guitar virtuoso, the youngest musician named in Rolling Stone's List of "The Top 100 Guitarists of All Time". Trucks was recently asked to join guitar legend Eric Clapton's world tour as a featured soloist in his band. Touring over 300 days per year, Trucks currently divides his time between The Derek Trucks Band, The Allman Brothers Band, and his new gig sharing the stage with Clapton.
Saturday, July 21
Northlanders Jazz Band with special guest Chris Vadala 12noon
Augustana College's Northlanders Jazz Band was started in 1954 with Earl Colgan as its first student director. It continued as a student-run organization until Dr. Harold Krueger assumed its leadership in 1965. Since then, the Jazz Band has performed for many campus and community events as well as being featured with numerous guest soloists in the annual Jazz on the Upper Great Plains Festival. Dr. Paul Schilf directs the group.
One of the country's foremost woodwind artists, Chris Vadala is in demand as a jazz/classical performer and educator. He has appeared on more than 100 recordings to date, as well as innumerable jingle sessions, film and TV scores, performing on all the saxophones, flutes, and clarinets. Professor Vadala is the Director of Jazz Studies and Saxophone Professor at the University of Maryland. Vadala's performing career has been highlighted by a long tenure as standout woodwind artist with the Internationally recognized Chuck Mangione Quartet. In addition, he has performed and/or recorded with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Chick Corea, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Placido Domingo, Sarah Vaughn, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, Henry Mancini, Doc Severinsen, Phil Woods, Joe Lovano, and many others.
Doreen's Jazz New Orleans 1:30pm
Doreen's Jazz New Orleans is a group whose interest lies in spreading the culture and traditional music of New Orleans all over the world through performance and education. Their show-stopping performances at private engagements and music festivals all over North and South America, Canada, Europe, and Asia have coined them the name "The Show Stoppers." They not only entertain their audiences through music, but also teach the rich, historic and diverse culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. They have received rave reviews from newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs such as VH1, PBS, BET and MTV which tell of the many delightful surprises in each and every one of their performances. Doreen's Jazz New Orleans performed in Sioux Falls in April 2005.
Steve Weingart and Mike Miller 3pm
Steve Weingart began his musical career playing piano at age three and has gone on to earn the reputation as one of the top jazz keyboard players in the world. Most know Steve from his seven year stint as keyboardist and songwriter for The Dave Weckl Band. In addition he has performed with Steve Lukather’s El Grupo, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Eric Marienthol, Warren Hill, Robben Ford and countless others. Steve recently left The Dave Weckl Band to pursue his solo career. In 2006 he released the CD Dark Blue Dream which drew critical acclaim from friend and fellow keyboardist Chick Corea. Steve’s current touring band, Nu Jazz Alliance, features Frank Gambale (guitar), Tom Brechtlein (drums) and Carlitos Del Puerto (bass), each a master in his own right. Steve will be performing material from his Dark Blue Dream CD along with Mike Miller and Tom Brechtlein at Sioux Falls JazzFest 2007.
Mike Miller was born into a musical family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1953. He was the third of four bass-playing brothers, performing with his father's jazz combo at twelve. While much is made of individuality and originality among musicians, Miller seems beyond those qualities: he is unlikely in the way he defies description. Consider that Miller has worked with jazz pianist Chick Corea, diva/comedienne Bette Midler, pop craftsmen Gino Vanelli and Burton Cummings, the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Wall of VooDoo's Stan Ridgeway, film composer and former Devo front man Mark Mothersbaugh, the Frank Zappa Banned from Utopia alumni band, and many others. This is a range of experience that challenges the imagination - edgy spontaneity in Corea's electric jazz, slapstick "comedy guitar" with Bette Midler, and complex orchestration in writing of Marc Anthony Turnage and Frank Zappa.
Bonerama 4:45pm
The sheer force of four trombones playing simultaneously was to be their calling card. Still, when Mark Mullins and Craig Klein formed the trombone blitzkreig of Bonerama, skeptics and traditionalists raised their voices in puritanical protest. The initial stirrings of the trombone cavalcade known as Bonerama began in 1998, when Mullins and Klein found themselves with some rare time off from their steady gig in Harry Connick Jr's big band. The ensemble tours frequently, selling out venues like Manhattan's Tobacco Road. San Francisco's Boom Boom Room. Bonerama has gained a remarkable reputation for incendiary live performances, as well as a devout and ever-expanding fan base.
Born in Akron, Ohio, Jeff Golub studied at the Berklee College of Music before moving to New York City at the dawn of the 1980s. He achieved notoriety amongst both his peers and music fans as the guitarist in Billy Squier’s band from 1980-1985. He then became a sought-after sideman and studio guitarist, and, after a stint playing alongside former J. Geils Band front man Peter Wolf, he joined Rod Stewart’s band in 1988. Golub held down the guitar chair with Stewart until 1995, when he left to concentrate on a solo career.
Golub initially laid the groundwork for his solo career in 1988, with the release of Unspoken Words, his first project under his own name. Upon leaving Stewart, Golub established himself at the forefront of contemporary jazz with the collective project Avenue Blue, a moniker under which three releases were issued. Golub’s transition to solo artist was completed in 1999 with the release of the appropriately titled Out of the Blue. His 2000 release Dangerous Curves spent 12 weeks in the top 20 of Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and gave the guitarist both a No. 1 and No. 2 NAC single.
In 2002, Golub released DO IT AGAIN, which peaked at #8 on Billboard’s chart. The disc included his take on the Average White Band’s Cut The Cake. The song spent a total of six weeks as the #1 most played song on NAC radio. 2003 brought the release of Soul Sessions – a recording with a live, in-the-studio sound. This album also reached Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Top10.
Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen 8:15pm
A funky piano wizard with a standout soulful voice, Jon Cleary embodies decades of Crescent City music magic, continuing the tradition of R&B giants like Professor Longhair, James Booker, Dr. John, and Allen Toussaint. A slot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1994 proved that he was an integral part of the local music scene and coaxed Cleary to form his own permanent backup band. Named the "Absolute Monster Gentlemen" after a catch phrase uttered by late guitar luminary Johnny "Guitar" Watson, the band brings an array of roots styles to Cleary's raw sound. Cleary's band garnered fast popularity on the merits of its skin-tight arrangements and intense interplay.
By the time debut album Moonburn had been released, Cleary had already won the praises of roots music aficionados the world over. With nods from the likes of Maria Muldaur and Taj Mahal, he has recorded and toured extensively with Bonnie Raitt, who maintains that Cleary is "the ninth wonder of the world," and her first-call keyboardist. As a latter-day extension of generations of syncopated street-beat magic, Cleary is an heir to the New Orleans piano legacy, the greatest ambassador of a treasured tradition.
Robert Cray Band 10pm
Robert Cray is one of a precious few active blues artists with the talent and vision to successfully usher the idiom into the future without resorting either to slavish imitation or simply playing rock while passing it off as blues. Just as importantly, his immensely popular records helped to jump-start the contemporary blues boom that still holds sway to this day. Blessed with a soulful voice that sometimes recalls '60s-great O.V. Wright and a concise lead guitar approach that never wastes notes, Cray's ascendancy was amazingly swift -- in 1986 his breakthrough Strong Persuader album for Mercury (containing "Smoking Gun") won him a Grammy and shot his asking price for a night's work skyward. Unlike too many of his peers, Cray continues to experiment within his two presiding genres, blues and soul. Sets such as Midnight Stroll, I Was Warned and Shame + a Sin for Mercury show that the "bluenatics" (as he amusedly labels his purist detractors) have nothing to fear and plenty to anticipate from this innovative, laudably accessible guitarist. - Bill Dahl, All Music Guide
Second Stage Performers
Friday, July 20
Solution 6pm
Soulcrate Music 7:30pm
Saturday, July 21
Snakebeard Jackson 12noon
Kyle Knutson 1:30pm
Derek Postini 3pm
Dakota Jazz Collective 4:30pm
Doreens Jazz New Orleans 6pm
Urban Blues 8pm
