By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Jazz veterans to be inducted into jazz hall of fame; Bill Stewart to attend

Des Moines may not be the Village Vanguard, but it has its share of legendary musicians, four of whom will be inducted into the Des Moines Jazz Hall of Fame this weekend in Altoona.

On Sunday, the Community Jazz Center will host the fifth annual ceremony, which includes a reception and concert by local musicians at Adventureland Inn in Altoona. Inductees include 81-year-old guitarist Ben Harrison (Younkers Tea Room, Greenbrier Restaurant), trumpeter Jerry Stenstrom (Ralph Zarnow, Keith Killinger and Everett Boyer orchestras), pianist-singer Scott Smith (Ann Margaret, George Burns) and the late trombonist Steve "Toad" Stewart (Buddy Morrow Orchestra, longtime Carlisle school teacher), whose acclaimed jazz-drumming son Bill Stewart (John Scofield, Pat Metheny) will be in attendance to pick up his father's award.

In addition to the hall of fame honorees, bassist Steve Charlson and the Metro Arts Alliance, organizers of Jazz in July, will be recognized for their contributions to the local jazz scene. And for the first time, the CJC will present The Bobby Dawson Award, which will be given annually to a student who is active in the CJC student jam sessions. This year's winner is Andy Poppen, a recent graduate of Ankeny High School.

The event will also include musical tributes to this year's honorees presented by local jazz artists, including performances by members of the Des Moines Big Band and former hall of fame winners Stu Calhoun, Ross Cornelison and Jim Eklof. Even Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie is getting in the act by declaring Oct. 23 as "Jazz History Day."

The reception will be held at 6 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. program. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students and are available by calling 276-0777. Proceeds benefit the CJC, a non-profit group of jazz educators, musicians and fans.

Scene notes

First Fleet Concerts and IowaRock.com have teamed up to bring The Juliana Theory, Jamison Parker, June and The Fury to the House of Bricks on Saturday at 5 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $12... The Jacques Thibaud String Trio plays Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Des Moines Art Center. Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for children under 13. Call 277-4405... Bill Mallonee, former frontman for the Vigilantes of Love, plays a solo acoustic show Sunday at 8 p.m. at AK O'Connors in Beaverdale... The Des Moines Music Coalition has booked Garaj Mahal to play Raccoon River Brewing Co. Nov. 3... Toby Lightman's performance scheduled for Nov. 10 at the Maintenance Shop has been canceled. Tickets may be refunded at the point of purchase... Local artists will host a tribute to the late R&B singer Luther Vandross Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. at North High School. Vandross, who died in July at the age of 54, sold more than 25 million records and won eight Grammy Awards. Music will be provided by LaunchPad DMI Entertainment and the event will include a performance by lip-sync artists Tyrone Anderson and Fire. Tickets are $5 and are available at Great Lengths Hair Salon in the Park Fair Mall, as well as Lowery's Department Store at 1150 East 14th St. and Taylor Made B&B Inc., 1300 21st St. Portions of the proceeds will benefit the Luther Vandross Foundation and the Tom Joyner Foundation for Hurricane Katrina relief. Call 288-7976... Hairy Mary's recently announced a batch of new shows coming to the Des Moines rock club. They include PONOFO, North of Grand and Soulsick (Nov. 12), King's X, Mardo and Knucklebone (Nov. 19), Clutch and William Elliott Whitmore (Nov. 28), Violent Impact and Fell Far Behind (Dec. 2), The Street Brats (Dec. 3), New Deal Radio, In This Moment and Time in Enemy (Dec. 8) and Eight Fingers Down (Dec. 24)... The KUNI Blues Blowout, usually held at The Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo, has moved to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake this year. Betty LaVette and openers The Diplomats of Solid Sound will perform Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $20 and are available by calling (800) 772-2440 Ext. 0. Proceeds from the show benefit KUNI... Speaking of the Surf, they've booked a few noteworthy shows including the Outlaws with Dallas Moore (Oct. 29, $15), "Dawn of the Punks" featuring nine bands (Oct. 30, $8), Dwight Yoakam with Hanna-McEuen (Nov. 5, $26), Shooter Jennings (Nov. 19, $12), Wishbone Ash (Nov. 20, $18) and Asleep at the Wheel (Dec. 2, $10). Call (641) 357-6151 for tickets... KXNO 1460 AM sports radio talk show host and music fan Larry Cotlar is seeking CDs by local bands of any genre to play on his show. Bands interested in having their music played on the air can call him at 284-KXNO or visit the station's Web site at www.kxno.com for details... Nominees eligible for induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame were recently announced by Billboard. They include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Cat Stevens, Chic, Dave Clark Five, Grandmaster Flash, Joe Tex, John Mellencamp, J. Geils Band, Miles Davis, Patti Smith Band, Paul Butterfield Band, Sex Pistols, Sir Douglas Quintet and The Stooges. Music industry insiders and journalists will vote. The results should be announced in December. CV

Comment on this story | Return to top