Join PPCT on the back patio for Backstage Jazz, A summer concert series. There will be fun, dirnks and Snacks. All you need to bring is a lawn chair. We will have food and drink on hand too to make your evening complete. The 2021 series is sponsored by First Midwest Bank.
Freddy Allen Swing Quartet
Freddy Allen, jazz/swing pianist and vocalist, has been performing professionally for over 37 years. From 1995-2017 Freddy lived in Chicago where he performed as a solo artist as well as an accompanist, music director and private instructor. Teamed with singer/comedienne Amy Armstrong. Freddy served as pianist/music director for the popular music and comedy duo “Amy & Freddy”. For twenty-five years, “Amy & Freddy“ toured internationally and headlined on over 70 cruise ships. Currently a resident in the Quad City area, Freddy performs solo, and with his swing trio and quartet. Performing music from The Great American Songbook. Freddy and his ensembles swing the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Fats Waller, and so many other American composers of the jazz era and beyond. The Freddy Allen Swing Quartet features Freddy on piano & voice, Josh Duffee on drums, Neal Smith on tenor sax, and James Fudge on double bass. For more info on Freddy Allen, visit www.freddyallenmusic.com
The music and drumming of the 1920s, 30s and 40s has been a major part of Josh Duffee’s life for the past 20 years as he’s lived out his dream of being a professional musician. A local favorite, Josh thrills his audiences with a special flair and knowledge of traditional jazz, especially that of Bix Beiderbecke.
Perhaps best known as a founding member, composer, arranger, and performer with the klez-punk quartet known as The Kabalas, Neal Smith is now better known for playing live jazz while recording for film and television in his home studio.
Jazz double bassist James Fudge is also a classical violinist and graduate of Indiana University and Florida State. He has been a member of the hard bop sextet Thelonious Assault and performed with Matt Harris, Stephon Harris, Frank Mantooth, Tom Harrell, and others. In the early 1990s, he often appeared at the Twin Cities’ Luxeford and The Times Café. In the Quad Cities since 2000, he teaches strings and college music courses, and his bass work includes composition and transcription.