Jazz in C-U, week of 7/27/2008

Get out and get some!

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Monday, 7/28/2008
JAM SESSION with the MRS TRIO
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Wednesday, 7/30/2008
DON HEITLER
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Thursday, 7/31/2008
KEVIN TURNER TRIO
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Friday, 8/1/2008
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MACHINE
at EMBASSY TAVERN (114 S Race St., Urbana)
5:30-7:30pm, free admission (donations encouraged)

Saturday, 8/2/2008
JAZZ MAYHEM
at ALTO VINYARDS WINERY (North Duncan Rd., Champaign)
7:30-10:30pm, cover charged

"Beyond Cool" concert scheduled for 8/29

The UI jazz faculty has scheduled a concert titled "Beyond Cool" to be held at the Allerton Music Barn on August 29th.

The instrumentation will be identical to the Miles Davis nonet that recorded what came to be called "Birth of the Cool" -- trumpet, alto sax, trombone, baritone sax, french horn, tuba, piano, bass, and drums.

Some of the selections to be performed will be from the "Birth of the Cool" recording, while the balance of the material will be arrangements written by the jazz faculty for this instrumentation.

Personnel will be:

Chip McNeill, alto saxophone
Glenn Wilson, baritone saxophone
Jeff Helgesen, trumpet
Kaz Machala, horn
Jim Pugh, trombone
Karl Kramer, tuba
Chip Stephens, piano
Larry Gray, bass
Dana Hall, drums

For additional information, visit the Allerton Music Barn events page.

Jazz in C-U, week of 7/20/2008

Better late than never.

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Monday, 7/21/2008
JAM SESSION with the MRS TRIO
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Wednesday, 7/23/2008
DON HEITLER
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Thursday, 7/24/2008
HOUCHIN/BRIGGS GROUP
at EMBASSY TAVERN (114 S Race St., Urbana)
5:30-7:30pm, free admission (donations encouraged)

Thursday, 7/24/2008
KEVIN TURNER TRIO
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Thursday, 7/24/2008
CHIP McNEILL QUARTET
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Friday, 7/25/2008
BONEYARD JAZZ QUINTET
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
5-7pm, free admission

Friday, 7/25/2008
ROB DENTY TRIO
at ZORBA'S (Green St., Campustown)
9pm-midnight, cover charged

Jazz in C-U, week of 7/13/2008

Busy week -- lucky you!

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Sunday, 7/13/2008
DARDEN PURCELL JAZZ COMBO
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Monday, 7/14/2008
JAM SESSION with the MRS TRIO
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Wednesday, 7/16/2008
DON HEITLER
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Wednesday, 7/16/2008
ZOO w/DAVID EASLEY
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Thursday, 7/17/2008
KEVIN TURNER TRIO
at THE GREAT IMPASTA (114 W. Church St., Champaign)
6-9pm, no cover

Thursday, 7/17/2008
JAZZ GUITAR NIGHT
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
7-10pm, cover charged

Friday, 7/18/2008
JEFF HELGESEN JAZZ QUINTET
at THE IRON POST (120 S Race St., Urbana)
5-7pm, cover charged

Friday, 7/18/2008
CHARLES LANE QUINTET
at ZORBA'S (Green St., Campustown)
9pm-midnight, cover charged

Saturday, 7/19/2008
GEORGE TURNER TRIO
at EMBASSY TAVERN (114 S Race St., Urbana)
5:30-7:30pm, free admission (donations encouraged)

Canopy Club to host Nature's Table Reunion Concerts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Machota
Cell: 217/722-8601
Email: thetable@naturestable.net

7/10/2008

CANOPY CLUB TO HOST NATURE'S TABLE 2008 REUNION CONCERTS

Performances on Consecutive Nights to Feature Jazz and Blues Music from Music Venue's Past

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The second annual Nature's Table reunion is scheduled to be held Friday, August 15, and Saturday, August 16, at the Canopy Club in Urbana, Illinois.

Nature's Table was a whole food restaurant and live music venue in Urbana, Illinois from the 1979 to 1991. The restaurant featured live music seven nights a week, including an eclectic mix of jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, and experimental music. Besides providing a space for local acts, Nature's Table also featured national touring artists.

When the University of Illinois reclaimed the property in 1991, the community lost a unique local resource.

Terry Masar, former owner of the restaurant, felt that the time had come to reunite some of the artists who had performed at the venue many years ago, and in 2007 organized the first reunion concert in Champaign. This year, the reunion event has been expanded to two consecutive nights, and has been moved to a larger, indoor venue to accomodate a greater number of attendees.

"Based on the success of last year's reunion, we think this year's event will be even better," Masar says.

Jeff Machota, who worked at Nature's Table starting in the mid-1980s, is encouraged about the reunion. "We have a great line-up this year," Machota says, "Whether you went to Nature's Table or not, we'll think you enjoy both nights of this year's reunion.

Scheduled blues performers (Friday) include The Freak Brothers, The Surreal Deal, and The Mighty Pranksters.

Scheduled jazz performers (Saturday) include The Bob & Jeff Show; hot music (tba); Guido Sinclair Tribute featuring Tom Paynter; Jeff Helgesen and Friends, Condition Blue; and The Joan Hickey Trio with Joel Spencer.

Admission for each night will be $10. Advance tickets will be available from the Canopy Club. Doors open at 8:00pm on Friday and 5:30pm on Saturday.

Additional information is available at the following website:

http://www.naturestable.net/


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If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Jeff Machota at 217/722-8601 or e-mail thetable@naturestable.net.

The Canopy Club is located at 708 South Goodwin Avenue in Urbana, Illinois.

Kirby Pringle departs News-Gazette

Kirby Pringle, who has been writing articles for the News-Gazette for over 20 years, has left the paper.

Kirby has always been a good friend to the arts community, writing feature articles for the paper on a wide variety of subjects. On a number of occasions he's taken time to write about upcoming jazz CD releases from local artists, the jazz scene in general, interviews with national artists coming in to play at Krannert, etc.

Anyway, it's a shame to see him go.

Support his post-gazette endeavors by going here and buying stuff.