Miles Davis Jazz Festival set for Saturday, May 21

The Alton Museum of History and Art will present the 2011 Miles Davis Jazz Festival from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 21 at Trimpe Hall on the campus of Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL.

Performers will include the Alton Landing Jazz Quintet, Jim Stevens Band, saxophonist Henry Miles' quintet from Springfield, IL, and Mondinband with special guest Big George Brock, Jr. (pictured).

Tickets are $25 each, or $180 for tables of eight, with all proceed benefiting the Museum. A cash bar and hors d'ouevres will be available. To purchase tickets, call 618-462-2763, send an email to altonmuseum@gmail.com, or stop by the Museum at 2809 College in Alton between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m Wednesday through Saturday.

(Edited 5/19/11 to correct the special guest for Mondinband.)

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.