Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra featuring Mike Conrad at the Redstone Room -- April 6.
Saturday, April 6, 7 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Dedicated to playing original music by Iowa writers and showcasing the finest jazz musicians jazz composers that the state has to offer, the gifted homegrown ensemble the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra featuring Mike Conrad headlines an April 6 concert event at Davenport's Redstone Room, the group famed for programming pieces by such prolific, seasoned veteran composers as Bob Washut and John Rapson alongside those of younger writers including Nate Sparks and Paul Lichty.
University of Northern Iowa Professor and award-winning jazz composer Conrad enjoyed leading COLOSSUS Central, Iowa’s premiere large jazz ensemble, from 2013 to 2015. Since returning to Iowa to join the UNI Jazz Faculty, Conrad resurrected the group under a new name and with a new mission, as Conrad and the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra want to show people in Iowa and beyond that, as Conrad says, they “don’t need to look to New York City or Chicago for beautiful, high-quality, creative music. There are amazing artists and musicians doing incredible things right here.”
Conrad is a composer and improviser currently serving as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. His compositions have earned him four ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards, a SONIC Award from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers, the 2023 Sammy Nestico Award, and many other accolades. Conrad’s music has been performed all over the world, including a 2017 concert by the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands, a 2014 Carnegie Hall Premiere, and a performance at the US Presidential Inauguration in 2013. Over the years, his wide-ranging creative projects have included Conrad's unique 15-piece group, the All Angles Orchestra (New Angle, 2017), a reimagination of Beethoven’s third symphony in collaboration with the Berlin-based Stegreif Orchester (2019), and a 2022 trio album release entitled Reconnect.
The artist and educator also records and performs regionally on piano and trombone with such groups as Christopher Merz’s “Shorter Stories,” the Jon Ailabouni Quintet, Bob Washut’s “Emeritet,” and the Max Wellman Big Band, and has also performed and recorded with musician such as Louis Hayes, Alexa Tarantino, and Greg Gisbert. His jazz festival appearances, meanwhile, include the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Rockport Jazz Festival, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Conrad earned degrees from the University Northern Iowa (BM and BME), the Eastman School of Music (MM), and the University of Northern Colorado (DA). In high demand as a clinician and guest director for jazz ensembles, having directed the Iowa All-State Jazz Band last year, Conrad lives in Cedar Falls with his wife Ashley and their daughter Madeline.
The Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra featuring Mike Conrad play Davenport's Redstone Room on April 6, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $15-18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 and visiting CommonChord.org.
