The Cherokee Jazz Blues Festival was created with the idea of bringing music to the community of Cherokee, Iowa and the surrounding Northwest Iowa area. This eighth year is the most exciting ever, growing in size and participation every year.

The emphasis is on bringing people, students, and musicians together through perfomances, clinics and good old fashioned commaraderie.


Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival - A History

In the early 1990s RJ Baker, formerly of Olathe, Kansas, was hired as director of economic development for Cherokee County. One of the early projects suggested by Mr. Baker was a winter jazz festival to be held in January when nothing much is going on in the community. It would be a delightful break in the winter even if there were snow outside! Mr. Baker believed that a jazz festival would be a positive addition to forty year traditions of the Cherokee Symphony and the Cherokee Community Theater. Properly promoted the festival would be an opportunity to give Cherokee a high profile in northwest Iowa and around the Midwest.

In January 1992 the first jazz festival was held in Cherokee. Yes there was snow outside and temperatures were what you would expect in northwest Iowa in January. The three-day program was ambitious - a free rehearsal open to the public, music clinics for high school students in area schools, a free performance for patients and staff at a local hospital and a history of jazz presentation at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee. Throughout the weekend the musicians entertained at pub crawls, a jam session and a concert (by master musicians from Kansas City and by extremely talented musicians from northwest Iowa, South Dakota, and Omaha, Nebraska). The attendance was excellent with people coming from five states. The audiences loved the music and asked that another festival be planned.

In January 1993 the second jazz festival was held in Cherokee. Again there were music clinics for area high school students, and entertainment throughout the weekend by master musicians from Kansas City and around the midwest. The audience still loved the music, but the festival lost money. The festival committee endured criticism that we had not entirely covered our costs. The festival idea, while still appealing to many, was disparaged by some because the finances were not managed successfully.

Ten years passed without a jazz festival. Then, in the year 2002 a few Cherokeeans got together with RJ Baker to learn from his experience what we would have to do in order to give ourselves a reasonable chance to hold another festival and not lose money. RJ advised us to find a way to cover the cost of the musicians' performance fees, transportation and lodging up front, and pay the other costs of the festival with fees collected during the festival and from donations. Collectively we arrived at a way to do that by approaching many businesses and individual citizens of Cherokee and asking them to be sponsors to help us reestablish the jazz festival in Cherokee. The idea of reestablishing the festival was presented as a wise investment in our community and a reasonable expense for a weekend of family entertainment right here in Cherokee.

In January 2003 we held the third jazz festival in Cherokee. Again we held a music clinic for area high schools and in addition to the master musicians from Kansas City, we were entertained by outstanding musicians from New York City. The festival was well attended and very well received; and we did not lose money.

In January 2004 we held the fourth festival - by now called the Cherokee Jazz and Blues Festival. Again, there was a clinic for area high school music students. In addition a masters clinic was offered to high school band directors. The tradition was continued of pub crawls, a jam session and a concert by master musicians from Kansas City, New York City, and by our own great talent from northwest Iowa. A wonderful addition to the 2004 festival was an experienced female vocalist who had recently moved to northwest Iowa from Australia. The festival was well attended, received very favorable reviews and was again a financial success. The Cherokee Jazz and Blues Festival was becoming a tradition in northwest Iowa.

In January 2005, we held the 5th Cherokee Jazz and Blues Festival. Again there was a clinic for area high school music students and a masters clinic for high school band directors. We also continued the tradition of pub crawls, a jam session and a concert. All were well attended. The event was a success, so we began to plan for another festival!

The 6th Cherokee Jazz & Blues festival was on January 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2006. We again featured great talent from far away and close to home including homegrown Iowa talent. For example, our headline act, the Mark Pender Band, from New York City, from Kansas City we had the Bobby Carson Band. From Lincoln, Nebraska we had The Blues Messengers. From Milford, Iowa we had the Hooterville All-Stars. From Sioux City, Iowa we had the Northwest Iowa Musicians, and from Cherokee, Iowa we had the Cherokee Jam Band. Finally, from Des Moines, Iowa for the first time at our festival, we had The Blue Band and the Des Moines Big Band. Our City of Cherokee, by order of the Mayor and the city council, recognized and thanked Mark Pender for his many contributions to our music festival and to the music education of our youth by giving Mark the key to the city. Mark was overwhelmed with the love and kindness.

The 7th Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival on January 12-14, 2007 was filled with fine performances by many artists from near and far. The Mark Pender Band from New York City and The Blue Band from Des Moines, Iowa provided a fine concert Saturday night. The Jim Oatts Sextet conducted the Music Clinic for area high school music students Friday afternoon and then performed in the Pub Crawl Friday night - pleasing jazz enthusiasts with faithful renditions of jazz standards and exploring new territory with their own compositions. Jazz fans again enjoyed the Northwest Iowa Musicians in the pleasant environment at The Copper Cup coffee shop during the early shift of the Friday night Pub Crawl. The Hooterville All Stars from Milford, Iowa and the Blues Messengers from Lincoln, Nebraska again provided great Saturday night pub crawl entertainment. Newcomers (to our festival) The Hatchlings from Kansas City, Missouri and Something Underground from Denver, Colorado surprised fans of all ages with their strong blues beat and amazing vocal harmonies (respectively).

The 8th Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival is scheduled to occur Friday through Sunday, January 4-6, 2008. For the first time in years we will not have Mark Pender and his Mark Pender Band to thrill audiences with Mark's unique style of upbeat jazz. Instead our headline act will be Mark's friend Paul Tillotson and his Paul Tillotson Love Trio - also from New York City. They have published several fine CDs and play their own unique style of melodic jazz. We are confident they will be a big hit with all who hear them. Paul was here in January 2005 and performed along with the Mark Pender Band during the concert. He put on a great show and our audience told us to bring Paul back to Cherokee whenever we could! The opening act for the concert will be Something Underground, the Denver-based Power Trio whose rock and blues high energy stage shows with amazing vocal harmonies endear them to their fans from Colorado to Iowa and beyond. Also returning will be The Hatchlings, a Kansas City-based Blues & Jazz trio who impress with their own special power as they aim to revive and renew the spirit in live music. Again we will be entertained by The Hooterville All Stars and by the Northwest Iowa musicians - perennial pub crawl favorites. The Jim Oatts Sextet will again conduct the Music Clinic and perform their smooth jazz in the Friday night pub crawl. We will have a new group Friday night in the pub crawl and Sunday afternoon at the jazz brunch buffet - The Paul Tillotson Trio including Paul Tillotson (Keyboard) New York City, James Wormworth (Drums) New York City, and an outstanding local musician David Klee (Bass) Cherokee, Iowa. The Paul Tillotson Trio will perform in the style of the Paul Tillotson Love Trio. Finally, a newcomer to our festival will be The Tom Gary Blues Band. Tom is a blues piano player and vocalist with many years experience in Kansas City prior to his return to Iowa. He founded the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in Des Moines, and relocated to Storm Lake, Iowa where he is an adjunct professor of history and continues to perform his blues music whenever possible. He formed the Tom Gary Blues Band which includes himself, Paul Sleezer (Drums, Vocals) from Cherokee (also with 15 years experience playing the blues in Kansas City), Don Demers (Bass) Storm Lake, and Jimmy Davis (Guitar) Cherokee. These fine musicians blend well and provide an extraordinary blues sound not heard before in Cherokee.

Attend our festival in Cherokee during the first weekend in January 2008! We welcome you and hope you will thoroughly enjoy your weekend of out-of-town music right here in our town!

Feel free to contact us for further information through this website.

This website was initially designed and developed by Mark Pender, and updated for the 2007 and 2008 festivals by local community members. Our thanks to Mark and to Linda and Karla for their help!