The Iowa City Jazz Festival will take place July 1-3 on the UI Pentacrest. There will be music on four stages, Culinary Row, Kids FUN Zone, and Beverage Garden. All performances are free.
Here is the Main Stage schedule:
United Jazz Ensemble
Friday, July 1
- 5:00 United Jazz Ensemble
- 7:00 Akiko Tsuruga Trio featuring: Jeff Hamilton
- 9:00 Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom
Saturday, July 2
- 1:00 North Corridor Jazz All Stars
- 3:00 Phil Hey Quartet
- 5:00 Marquis Hill Blacktet
- 7:00 Vijay Iyer Trio
- 9:00 Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band
Sunday, July 3
- 12:00 Damani Phillips Trio
- 2:00 Larry Fuller Trio
- 4:00 Edmar Castaneda Trio
- 6:00 Miguel Zenón Quartet
- 8:00 David Berkman Sextet
- 9:30 City of Iowa City’s Fireworks
The festival kicks off on Friday, July 1, at 5 p.m., with United Jazz Ensemble, featuring some of the most talented instrumentalists from Iowa City High and Iowa City West High, followed at 7 p.m. by Akiko Tsuruga, an organist whose music is inspired by her Japanese roots. The evening concludes with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom starting at 9 p.m. Miller, who was named “Rising Star Drummer” and “Top 20 Jazz Drummer” in Downbeat magazine is a New York City-based drummer/teacher/ composer.
The second day of the Iowa City Jazz Festival begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, with the North Corridor All Stars, a group of rising high school jazz artists from the Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Waterloo area. This performance is followed at 3 p.m. by the bebop jazz sounds of the Phil Hey Quartet, from Saint Paul, Minn.. Marquis Hill Blacktet, led by the widely recognized trumpeter/composer, takes the main stage at 5 p.m. Born and raised in the south side of Chicago, Hill takes a lot of inspiration from the sounds of his city. In 2014, he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition.
Saturday evening concludes with performances by American Jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and Mexican-American conga player Poncho Sanchez, both of who are regarded as two of the biggest names in jazz. Grammy nominated Iyer, the 2015 Jazz Artist of the year in Downbeat’s International Jazz Critics Poll, takes the stage with his trio at 7 p.m. to showcase his inventive and whimsical style of jazz. Grammy-awarded Poncho Sanchez headlines at 9 p.m. with his unique style inspired by the sounds of Afro-Cuban music and bebop. Sanchez is regarded as one of the top American percussionists of our time.
Sunday, July 3, launches the last day of the Iowa City Jazz Festival highlighting a wide array of artists starting at noon with The Damani Phillips Trio. Phillips is the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies and African American music at the University of Iowa. The Larry Fuller Trio features the unmistakable talent of pianist Fuller at 2 p.m. followed by the dynamic sounds of Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda in his Edmar Castaneda Trio at 4 p.m. The Miguel Zenon Quartet will showcase a fine blend of Latin American Folkloric music and jazz led by Grammy nominated saxophonist Zenon. The melodic sounds of American jazz pianist David Berkman will conclude the evening with a set at 8 p.m., followed by a full-blown fireworks display over the University of Iowa Pentacrest lawn.
For the complete schedule and full artist bios, please visit www.SummerOfTheArts.org
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