The Iowa City Jazz Festival kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday as the city’s annual Summer of the Arts continues. Like all Summer of Arts festivals, the jazz fest is free and open to the public. The three-day music event in downtown Iowa City will feature local and international jazz artists and performances covering a wide variety of styles, with something for everyone from long-time aficionados to jazz-curious newcomers.
“What I love about this festival is you don’t have to know a lot about jazz, just know that you’re going to enjoy some great music, and jazz is such a broad genre that you’re going to have the opportunity to hear a lot of different styles of jazz,” Summer of the Arts Executive Director Lisa Barnes told Little Village.
Highlights include the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra on Friday night. Middagh, a Cedar Rapids native and University of Northern Iowa alum, made his mark as a jazz saxophonist and band leader before landing his current position as an assistant professor of Jazz at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris, called “one of the most important artists in jazz” by the Los Angeles Times, and his band Blackout will headline the festival on Saturday night…