Friday: Compass Rose (with Tom Bowling and Elliott Delman) will be performing at Maya Restaurant in Oak Park at 8 PM.

Sunday: It’s our annual Jazz Christmas service at the chapel. We’ll be featuring Kurt Yost on sax, Eric VanDuyne on guitar, Jeff Lackie on drums, Jim Seidel on bass and special guest Christina Trulio on vocals.  

Later that day at 4 pm Bob Miller will be playing in the percussion section for the Wind Ensemble of Lake County
at the CLC Grayslake campus:

    A Christmas Festival, Leroy Anderson
    Russian Christmas Music for Symphonic Band, Alfred Reed
    Minor Alternations No. 2, Carols From The Dark Side, David Lovrien
    Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson
    Greensleeves, arranged by Alfred Reed
    Symphony for Brass and Percussion, Alfred Reed

December 11: Linda Taylor and I will be guests on the show Info Explorers hosted by Ted Schneider on 98.3 WRLR. It will be a show to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and the people it affects. They’ll be airing the song Linda wrote lyrics to, “Auguste D,” and also my song devoted to my dad, “Memories Not Forgotten.” The radio station isn’t very powerful, so unless you live in the Round Lake area you’ll need to listen to the live podcast at: https://wrlr.fm/shows/info-explorers/

December 12: 7:30 pm. Lake County Concert Band

    Italian Rhapsody, Julie Giroux
    An Irving Berlin Christmas, Irving Berlin, arranged by Warren Barker
    Symphonic Prelude on Adeste Fidelis, Claude T. Smith
    O Magnum Mysterium, Morten Lauridsen transcribed by H. Robert Reynolds
    German Carol Festival, arranged by James Christensn
    Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson
    Russian Christmas Music

December 13: Bushwood will be performing at the Lake Bluff Brewing Co. for their Annual Holidazzle Show. They’ll pull from their catalog of country, rock and blues covers, along with a few Christmas songs. And wine is half off!

December 29 & 30: Studio 5’s Steve Rashid will feature “Practical Radio Theater on Air,” a classic radio show featuring grown-up comedy, great live music, and spectacular handmade sound effects! Plus adult beverages! If that isn’t enough, Eva B. Ross, who has amazed us with her vocals at the beach, will be warming up the 12/30 show. Read all about it and buy tickets here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3915638






Always inspiring: the opening address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.
Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.
This is triumphant music.
Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.
It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.
Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.
And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.
In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.

-Ken
Terry reacts to Kenny's music
Picture

Hi folks.
Recently, after hearing Eva B Ross and company rehearsing, Christine, who is involved in the music business for a living and has been worshiping with us asked me, “Where do you find all these wonderful musicians”? I’ve often thought about that and I would like to highlight a couple reasons. Number one is Fred Koch! He is kind of like the Tree that all the branches have grown from. I met Fred when my kids were toddlers attending
“Lil’ Cow Band” concerts and since then he has introduced me to a countless number of amazing musicians. Those musicians introduced me to more amazing musicians, and so on. If you see Fred, please say thank you for what he has done. I couldn’t be more grateful for his unselfish support through the years. Number two is all of you! When any musician plays for people that, as Eva put it last Sunday, is “a good listening crowd” and ever so appreciative, that not only affects the performance, but naturally makes them want to come back. So thank you all for the love and support you’ve shown the musicians who have come to share their talents! The beauty is that the branches of the tree are still growing and you all nurture that.  
Fred Koch

Announcements

MUSICIANS: I regularly check out Facebook and your home pages to see where you all are playing, but often I miss or don’t get the information in time for the newsletter. If you’d like me to advertise your gigs, please let me know when and where you're playing.