Join PPCT on the back patio for Backstage Jazz, A summer concert series. There will be food, fun and music. All you need to bring is a lawn chair. We will have food and drink on hand too to make your evening complete. The series is partial funded with grants from Illinois Arts Council Agency, National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest. The series is sponsored by First Midwest Bank.
July 31st -Nathan Taylor Band
Nathan Taylor & Friends explode with rich sound and purely blended talent. This talent is bathed in a wide range of vintage American blues & roots music, born of the soul of the heartland and the most fortunate front porches of Canton, Illinois.
From classic roots songs and blues of the delta to early New Orleans jazz and Nathan Taylor originals, their audiences dance to soulful spins on the old styles mixed with new music as they are transported to simpler times, past and present.
Food Vendor: To be Determined
August 21st - Derel Monteith Trio
Derel Monteith is a pianist, keyboardist, and composer based in Illinois. His primary current outlets are the Derel Monteith Trio, which focuses on his original compositions, and fully improvised solo piano. Derel's music fuses influences from a wide range of genres, including jazz, blues, Americana, rock, R&B, classical, and gospel music.
If you blend the music of Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Wayne Shorter and throw in a strong background in classical and rock music, you begin to get the idea.
Food Vendor: Smoking Willy's
September 25th - Dan Burke and Harry Tonchev Quartet
Saxophonist Dan Burke first showed an interest in the instrument at the age of twelve. Growing up in the western Chicago suburbs, Dan was exposed to a wide variety of music from Irish songs of freedom to rock and blues, but it wasn’t until he heard the elating sounds of jazz did he want to pursue a life in music. While in high school Dan won various awards and recognition playing in various jazz and classical honor groups including the Honor Band of America and the Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage.
Harry Tonchev is a Bulgarian-American jazz guitarist and electrical engineer who currently lives and works in the Chicago area. He holds a B.A. in music performance from University of Central Oklahoma, B.S. in electrical engineering from University of Oklahoma and M.S. in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University. While living in Oklahoma, Harry has performed with Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra, OKC Lyric Theatre, Brian Gorrell and the Jazz Company, and many other jazz and rock groups. As time permits, Harry enjoys the company of his wife and two kids, going to jazz jam sessions and further developing his improvisational music skills.
Food Vendor: TBD