Due to the invisible spread of COVID-19, Middleton Jazz will be on hiatus until further notice. We regret this interruption in making music and sharing it with the larger community, but extreme social distancing is the most effective tool we have right now to deal with the serious threat of COVID-19.

We were delighted to participate in the annual Strollin’ Middleton jazz festival again this year on September 6, 2019. Many thanks to the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, the Middleton Community Development Authority, and many other sponsors. It was well attended, and we all had a great time! The photo below is from Debbie Trexel.

We had a wonderful audience attend our performance in Rennebohm Park as part of the annual Make Music Madison celebration. The weather was cool and dry, with  no bugs, and the band sounded great in the park shelter! One photo is shown below, but there are more in the Photo Gallery. Thanks to Alex Saloutos for managing the venue, Jamie Kember for bringing the heavy gear, and everyone in the audience for turning out!

We were delighted to be invited to participate once again in the Stoughton Area Senior Center’s Music Appreciation Series. We always enjoy playing in the historic Stoughton Opera House, and we received a very warm welcome by the audience of 92 people.

Guitarist Carroll Sigler pointing out the sign outside the Stoughton Opera House.

Below our reed section and drummer get a real workout.

We played at The Jefferson on Saturday, January 19th, 2019. We were delighted to have an enthusiastic audience, including this couple that danced for the whole hour! Thanks to Debbie Trexel for the photo.

Middleton Jazz is delighted to be playing again in the Strollin’ Middleton Jazz Festival, starting at 5:00 p.m. in the Middleton Senior Center (7448 Hubbard Avenue) on Friday, September 7th, 2018. This free event is presented by the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium and the Middleton Community Development Authority, with the support of generous local sponsors.

The event invites you to wander through Middleton and listen to live jazz music all evening at the venues listed below. This year also features five artists displaying their art at five different locations.

John H. “Jack” Lussier played with Middleton Jazz for about eight years. A talented drummer, Jack chose to play washboard in his later years and liked to be introduced as “Washboard Jackson”. His washboard quite literally had all the bells and whistles on it!

Jack was one of Madison’s most prolific philanthropists, but he rarely spoke of it. He enjoyed making people happy, and he certainly did that through his music.

Jack passed away on July 27, 2018, at age 90.

“Washboard” Jackson

On July 17th, 2018, we had the privilege of playing for the Behring Senior Center in Monroe, Wisconsin. We had a large audience who seemed to be having almost as much fun as we were! Thanks to Debbie Trexel for the pic.

We were pleased to participate in Make Music Madison on Thursday, June 21, 2018. We played in Hoyt Park at 6:00 p.m. and had an appreciative audience, in spite of the rain. If you were there, you know we had a medical emergency just after our performance. Thanks to the quick action and skills of many people, we were able to avoid a tragedy, and we are all grateful for that.

For those who missed our performance, and those who were there and want to remember the best of the event, here is a small sample featuring Dick Trexel on clarinet:

If you’d like to drop in on one of our rehearsals, please note that we have moved our start time up 30 minutes to 9:00 a.m., and we will finish by 11:00 a.m.