Ernest Dawkins Jazz alto saxophonist Ernest "Khabeer" Dawkins will bring his "Straight Ahead" Quartet with special guest pianist and jazz educator Willie Pickens to the River Music Experience's Redstone Room in downtown Davenport for Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Matinée & Workshop on August 17. The workshop begins at 3 p.m., with admission $3 for students and $5 for adults. The concert begins at 6 p.m., with general admission $15 and reserve seating $20.

Corey Wilkes When was the last time a Quad Cities venue featured a performance that included a jazz band with a dancer? I have lived in the Quad Cities for 30 years and have never heard of anything like that happening here.

That will change on August 19 at the River Music Experience's Redstone Room, when acclaimed 27-year-old trumpet player Corey Wilkes and his Abstrakt Pulse band will conduct a workshop at 3 p.m. and a matinée performance at 6 p.m.

Antonio HartI know of no other town or high school in the Quad Cities area - or of any place in the world - that is doing the great things the citizens of Eldridge and the North Scott High School are doing in terms of educating their children and adults on America's original art form: jazz music.

East Moline-born and -bred Bill Bell - known as "The Jazz Professor" for his three decades of educational efforts in the San Francisco area - conducted a workshop at North Scott High School during a Mississippi Valley Blues Society residency several years ago, and stated that he had never seen a music department with comparable equipment and supplies at any educational institution he had been involved with. He asked: "Where and how do they get all that money?"

Ari Brown Jazz saxophonist, pianist, and educator Ari Brown - part of the avant-garde scene in Chicago - will perform with his quartet at the Redstone Room of the River Music Experience in downtown Davenport on July 16. Brown will conduct a workshop at 3 p.m. and perform a two-set concert starting at 6 p.m. Admission to the workshop is $10, while concert tickets are $15.

It has been more than a dozen years since Quad Citians have had the opportunity to catch an internationally known jazz act playing in a local nightclub, but on Sunday, April 30, jazz pianist and educator Willie Pickens will perform with his trio at the brand-new Redstone Room on the second floor of the River Music Experience in downtown Davenport.
Eddie Henderson, one of today's top and most original jazz trumpet players, joins one of today's best jazz bands when he performs on Friday with the Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble at North Scott High School in Eldridge.
The all-star lineup of the Newport Jazz 50th Anniversary Tour, coming to the Adler Theatre on Monday, includes two authentic jazz legends in 78-year-old saxophonist and flutist James Moody and 70-year-old pianist and composer Cedar Walton; one of today's outstanding new stars in saxophonist James Carter; a top jazz trumpet player in Randy Brecker; two of the most-called-upon rhythm-section players in bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash; and the fine guitarist Howard Alden.
Last week, Quad City Arts brought in Terrance Simien & The Mallet Playboys, one of Louisiana's top zydeco bands, for a residency as part of its Visiting Artist series. The band featured Simien on accordion and vocals, a rubboard or frottoir player, a guitarist, a keyboardist, a bassist, and a drummer.
The Dave Holland Quintet might be the finest jazz group ever to perform in the Quad Cities. In the latest Downbeat readers' poll (published in the December 2002 issue), Dave Holland took first place in four categories: best jazz artist, best jazz album (Not for Nothin'), best acoustic jazz group, and best acoustic bass player.
After hearing Kurt Elling in person and listening to his CDs, I have to agree with the Downbeat magazine critics polls - something I normally do not do - that named him the number-one jazz male vocalist in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

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