The group's first fundraiser brought in $126, and its organizers thought that was a pretty good number. And relatively speaking, it is. After all, the group's operating expenses to this point have totaled $6.
The committee exploring options for the River Music Center in downtown Davenport is about to undertake a feasibility study to see if the community will support its concept for the planned facility. The concept for the $7 million project is still vague, but it should give the community some sense of the project as it moves toward its scheduled completion in summer 2004.
Live music isn't an endangered species, but there are certainly fewer and fewer venues offering it these days. That's a stark contrast to a time when music was everywhere in the community. "These are significantly different times," said Nate Lawrence.
When last we left the local ambient-art-rock group INTENSITY!, it had just released a two-song album of nearly 50 minutes with the title The Stone of Madness. So we might call It All Starts Tomorrow progress toward something that at least acknowledges convention.
With two music events and a clinic for children, the Quad Cities Jazz Festival promises to brighten your Memorial Day weekend with spectacular music from nine stellar acts. The Quad Cities Jazz Fest runs Thursday through Saturday and includes singer Marilyn Maye, saxophonist Kim Park, the Southwest Missouri Jazz Band, trombonist Paul McKee, trumpet player Manny Lopez, pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Jim Widner, drummer Jim Ekloff, and guitarist Rick Haydon.
In an age of pristine and perfectly recorded CDs, Ryan Flaherty’s debut album, Dimestore Blues, is the kind of thing that would sound best on crackling vinyl. The did-it-himself collection of 10 songs – seven originals and three covers – has a rough charm that (intentionally or not) recalls the scratchy, popping recordings of the blues masters from many decades ago.
I must preface this by stating that I knew little of Galactic not long ago. I’d heard them recommended during innocent eavesdropping. I’d heard the ravings among the best of the ragtag new-wave wannabe hippies. I’d even heard some cuts off of one of the band’s albums (don’t ask me which), and I really liked them.
It’s something that happens to bands of all types, from fictional (Spinal Tap) to big (the unnamed band combining former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell with the instrumental power of Rage Against the Machine): A major player (Nigel or Cornell) quits at an inopportune time (in the middle of a big tour or before the debut album is even released), leaving everybody in a lurch.
Looking back at the 2001-2 season of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO), it is fair to say there were some good concerts but more mediocre-to-bad shows. April’s concert last weekend fell squarely into the latter category; like a sardine sandwich, the ends of the concert were adequate while the middle smelled and tasted funny.
Very few people will disagree that Bill Monroe is the father of bluegrass music. But I wonder how many of them will admit that it was a young female fiddler from Champaign, Illinois, who made it a viable commercial entity in the 21st Century.

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