Miles Davis Jazz Celebration on May 18 to feature Willie Akins, Arlin Strader

Among its many other charms, the riverside town of Alton, IL is known as the birthplace of Miles Davis, and in recent years the community has staged various events to honor the jazz trumpet great around the time of his birthday, which is May 26.

This year, St. Louis saxophonist Willie Akins (pictured) and drummer Arlin Strader of Myrtle Beach, SC will headline the Alton area's third annual Miles Davis Jazz Celebration, scheduled from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 18 in Trimpe Hall on the campus of Lewis and Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd in nearby Godfrey, IL.

Strader is a jazz and show drummer, educator and clinician who works steadily in the Carolinas and has toured the U.S. and Canada with the Tommy Dorsey band, while Akins is well-known to St. Louis area jazz fans as a mainstay of our local scene for more than 40 years. The concert also will feature a group from Lewis and Clark Community College co-led by drummer Howard Neal and multi-instrumentalist Tim Jarden, and including tenor saxophonist Herb Hutchinson, guitarist/trombonist Kenny King and trumpeter Kerry Walter. In addition, there will be a tribute to the late R&B vocalist and songwriter Luther Ingram, a native of Madison County, IL who was known for hits such as "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)." Ingram passed away in 2007 after a long illness.

General admission tickets for the Miles Davis Jazz Celebration are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and can be purchased at the Alton Museum of History and Art and at Bossanova Martini Lounge, 112 W. Third St. in Alton.