Jazz on the Green

Haven’t posted much in the last few weeks, but I’m back for more! For those of you who are long-time La Crosse area jazz fans, you probably have heard of Jazz on the Green.  It is a one day concert series held at North Presbyterian Church in La Crosse (1327 North Salem Road).  This year, it is on Sunday, June 28th, and will start around noon and end at 3:00 p.m.  There will be four acts this year, with headliner Al Townsend & the Wonderful World of Jazz.  And by a way of debut, I will be one of the four acts.

Coming off of playing four years in the Winona State Jazz Ensemble, I will put on a set with my tenor sax all by my lonesome, that is without a rhythm section.  And because I won’t have a rhythm section, there really is no point in trying to play songs that need a rhythm or key changes dignified.  So I just plan on playing an improvised set within my window of time.  I actually prefer this because the styles of playing, tempo and basically everything imaginable is free to be played.  I’ll try to set my styles around blues, which is my strong point.  It will be interesting, but I hope to see you out there!

If you’re wondering how smoothly an improvised set can go, there is no better example than the great Michael Brecker…..