March 8 Instrumental Jazz program features noted Iowa City group, college’s student musicians
Kirkwood Community College will present a night of instrumental jazz Saturday, March 8. Jazz guitarist Nik Gruber and Friends will perform in Ballantyne Auditorium, along with Kirkwood’s Jazz Student Combos. The evening’s performance is under the direction of Kirkwood Instrumental Music Director Dr. Timothy Feldkamp.
Nik Gruber has built a strong reputation in eastern Iowa for energetic and inventive guitar playing. He calls the musical approach of Friends as “a trio/sometimes quartet playing primarily [my] compositions as well as some standards and more rocking fare such as Weather Report and Jimi Hendrix. This great diversity…is indicative of a larger trend in jazz toward contemporary rhythms and songs.”
Gruber has performed around Iowa City for many years and has appeared in backup recording and performing roles for such artists as Bob Paredes and Standard AIR, New Beat Society and others. The current line-up of Friends includes Gruber on guitar; drummer Paul Kresowik; Bobby Domsic, saxophones; and Ben Soltau, bass.
Kirkwood’s Jazz Combos will perform a wide selection of jazz standards, including works by John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Duke Ellington and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The college’s jazz groups have appeared at festivals around the region and nation, winning several individual and group awards for performance excellence.
Tickets to the March 8 instrumental jazz concert at Kirkwood are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with current ID. Kirkwood faculty, staff and students are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available from the Kirkwood Student Life office, (319) 398-5578 or at the door. More information on the college’s Performing Arts programs is available at (319) 398-4956.