As someone easily overwhelmed by crowds and sensory overload (and more so as I age), I can find Iowa City’s wonderful summer festivals a challenge. I have many times enjoyed the tunes, charts and riffs flowing from the stages of the Iowa City Jazz Festival. I have often parked my camp chair on the Pedestrian Mall on Friday night […]
Iowa City Jazz Festival
The weird and inspiring story of Hot Tamale Louie will come to musical life for Iowa City Jazz Fest

Iowa City Jazz Festival: Hot Tamale Louie Main Stage, Downtown Iowa City — Friday, June 29 at 9 p.m. “Over and over we forget what being American means,” Kathryn Schulz writes in a 2016 New Yorker essay about Zarif Khan, an immigrant to the U.S. in 1907 from the mountains of Afghanistan who built a […]
27th annual Jazz Fest hits Iowa City this weekend

Jazz Fest takes over downtown Iowa City this weekend with art, activities, food and drink and dozens of musicians. The event features a main stage with national and international performers, and three side stages to showcase a variety of local acts. Performances will rotate between stages throughout the festival. […]
Jazz Fest features renowned performers in a weekend jam-packed with entertainment
Dave Douglas & High Risk play IC Jazz Fest Main Stage
Off-bass: Ron Miles and Whirlpool to play free late show at the Englert
UR Here: Community and all that Jazz

Recently, I wrote about how organizing and attending our local festivals builds social capital. But another dimension of community is the personal bond we form with our place. The stronger our emotional connections, the more we live well in a place. Deep community is affective as much as it’s social, a relationship on par with […]
Live music and festival preview for July
On the Beat: Summer listening guide

Summer in the Clubs! Live Music Venue GUIDE Iowa City is what is known in the biz as a ‘small market.’ Acts on national tours book shows in Iowa City based on it’s geographical position within a half-day’s drive of Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City—it’s a great place to shoehorn a show in […]
Iowa City Weekender – July 2-5 – JAZZ FEST PREVIEW
Perhaps freedom isn’t free, but 4th of July weekend is! Jazz Fest (July 3-5) is bringing some of the biggest names in Jazz to downtown Iowa City — all for our very free enjoyment — AND, when the festival finishes around 9:30/10? The Mill is inviting the musicians over for jam sessions both Friday and […]