A lot of 14-year-olds pick up an instrument to emulate their idols. It's just not often they choose the harpsichord.
But that's what George Shangrow did, and decades later, he's the director and founder of Orchestra Seattle and the director of the Seattle Conservatory of Music. This weekend he's performing on the piano and harpsichord as one of four musicians in the Black Hawk Chamber Music Festival.
The "Mostly Mozart Festival" celebrates the 250th birthday of the composer with two concerts each at Moline's First Congregational Church (on July 28 and 30) and Iowa City's Congregational Church (July 29 and 31).
In
conjunction with this year's Music Guide, the River
Cities' Reader has added
new music-related features to its Web site.
No surprises there. But while researching the first group to perform this weekend - local favorites The Gray Wolf Band, whose set begins at 5 p.m. on Friday - I was floored to discover that drummer Tom Drabek not only served as Alpine Race chairperson for several U.S. Ski Association events, but is a former Special Forces Green Beret, to boot. And he's not the only Gray Wolf performer with an interesting history. According to the group's Web site (
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.
He's been described as "a bit rough and tons of fun"; he's been hammering out the blues for more than 30 years; he's been getting more and more recognition for his talent; and he's going to be in the tent on Sunday.
Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd calls Andy Linderman "one of the most dynamic electric harmonica players of our generation."
Joe Krown made his way to New Orleans in the early 1990s. Soon, he hooked up with Gatemouth Brown and became his keyboardist for the next 10 years. Along the way, Joe has put together various side bands and has performed with musicians from Chuck Berry to John Lee Hooker to Vassar Clements.
Rockin' Jake has been hailed by many as one of the premier harmonica players in the country. His original sound is a hybrid of second-line swamp funk, blues, and zydeco, with influences from Paul Butterfield, Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Muddy Waters, the J. Geils Band, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
