Chris Potter's Underground

Chris Potter sits in with a Drake University Jazz Ensemble

On Friday, January 21 Civic Music Association hosted Chris Potter's Underground for a Partners in Music Education program and evening concert.  First, I would like to thank Chris Potter and his band for stepping in on short notice.  We were very sad when we learned our regularly scheduled program featuring the Dave Holland Quintet had to be canceled due to a family emergency.  However, Chris Potter's Underground certainly held up to our tradition of presenting world-class musical experiences and was a wonderful last minute addition to our concert season. 

As always, I had the pleasure of picking up the artists at the airport when they arrived in Des Moines.  It was great to chat with the group and learn about their previous impressions and experiences in our community.  The bass player, Fima Ephron, said he had played in Des Moines a couple of years ago with another group....but only about 20 people showed up!  I promised him we would have more of a welcoming audience and we sure did! 

Chris Potter discusses technique with a student saxophone player

Our first event was a Partners in Music Education Program with Chris Potter at the NEW Turner Jazz Center on the campus of Drake University.  What a gem for Des Moines and Drake!  This state of the art facility has a great stage, cafe style seating and a beautiful view of the campus.  During the workshop, Chris Potter spoke about his experiences as a jazz musician with about 50 college students from Drake, Iowa State University, Iowa University and UNI.  I think the most learning took place when Chris sat in with a couple of jazz ensembles.  It was fun to see the look of excitement in the young musician's eyes as they played side-by-side a jazz master!

All of this enthusiasm translated to the evening concert as Civic Music Association sold a RECORD NUMBER of student rush tickets!  I was thrilled to be presenting such a favorite of young musicians and was delighted to hear how much our subscribers and other ticket buyers also loved the concert.  Another great evening at Civic Music!

I hope you will join us at our next concert featuring male a cappella group Cantus!  Check out the video below of this fabulous vocal group!  Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling us at 515.280.4020 or visit Midwestix.  See you at the concert!