The Century Room downtown is a go-to place on hot summer nights in Tucson. Besides showcasing our local talent, there are many visiting artists on their way to Phoenix or Las Vegas or Los Angeles, that Artistic Director Arthur Vint manages to capture along with their talents for special evenings at this cozy venue in Hotel Congress.
Marco Rosano and his Polos are all local traditional jazz enthusiasts with their multi-instrumentalist leader on piano, clarinet, bass and/or tenor sax, the group swings hot! Chris Constantine (dr), Evan Dain (bj) and Sly Slipetsky (tuba) provide the rhythm and Rob Boone (tb) and Cameron Davidson (tp) give the front line a new meaning.
The Gaslight Theatre is celebrating 48 years of bringing us parodies, musical melodramas, concerts, comedies, olios, westerns and spoofs and with their sister venue, The Gaslight Music Hall, it is a Tucson treasure! Owner Tony Terry Jr. has defied all odds in creating a place where fun is number one and its family oriented menu with extremely reasonable prices means sold-out crowds. With free popcorn at each table the emphasis is on celebration and general silliness. The audiences cheer the hero and boo the villain. Those in attendance celebrating birthdays or anniversaries get a free ice cream cone and a shout out from the audience. An evening of smiles and laughter is on the menu for all!
We attended a concert with Joe Bourne, a local vocalist known for his Great American Songbook renditions. With Susan Artemis (p/v), Mike Levy (bs), Angelita Ponce (bongos), Fred Hayes (dr) and Max Goldschmid (cl/sax/tp) the evening was filled with Cole Porter, Gershwin and Warren standards. I was so happy to see Max there on a few of his many instruments as we see him often at the Century Room or with vocalist Sheryl Ann Mckinley at other venues…