I had the pleasure of spending a beautiful summer evening in downtown Wausau enjoying free jazz music behind the library. It was a crack group of players, mostly music professors from UWSP along with outstanding sax man Tom Washatka. I've said it before that I think its incredible that there is this caliber of jazz music available her in Central Wisconsin (and for free, no less) . The Sunday night shows are a new venture this year from the Wausau River District to promote the downtown area and are happening from 5-7 on the new permanant stage behind the library. There were maybe a few dozen people enjoying the tunes but this has the potential to grow as more people hear about it and check it out. But this isn't the only place to feed your jazz jones. This weekend is the annual Sid Kyler JazzFest at Bull Falls Brewery. Named after the late Wausau Jazzman, the event has become a summer staple and brings two days of high quality music and players both inside and outside the brewery. It's run by the River Valley Jazz Society and raises money for music scholarships. Credit the Zamzows at Bull Falls for keeping the jazz fires burning year round. They feature Wednesday night jazz for much of the winter and then host this most excellent festival every July. This years event features some new players and also some old favorites…Denise Sauter will be in the Tap room on Friday night…John Greiner is back with his Big Band 'Swing Shift” reviving the sound of those classic big bands of the 30's and 40's…and of course the Sid Kyler Tribute Band which features many of the players that Sid fronted for all those years around Central Wisconsin.
I hope to see you Friday and Saturday at Bull Falls…the food is good, the beer is tasty and the tunes are groovin!
Here is the schedule for this weekend
I'm going to be off for a few days as the Wausau Legion baseball team heads to the State Tournament in Kimberly. You can follow updates at the Wausau Legion Baseball facebook page or follow me on Twitter @tomking50. Here is the first day's schedule which begins tomorrow (Tuesday)
9:30 Wausau vs Oshkosh
12:30 Hartford vs Eau Claire
3:30 De Pere vs Madison Impact
6:30 Marinette vs Kimberly
Songs of the Day
