Middleton Jazz will not rehearse on August 16th, as the Middleton Senior Center will be preparing for Jill Kranz’ Retirement Party. There will be an open house from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., and a program at 4:00 p.m. Come and wish Jill a terrific retirement!

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.

On February 2nd, Middleton Jazz performed at All Saints Main Street Apartments. It was a bright and open venue with good acoustics, and the audience was terrific! The piano was in the center of the room, so the audience got to see and hear Bruce better than ever before. Thanks to Debbie Trexel for the photos here and in the Photo Gallery.

We were delighted to be back at the Stoughton Opera House as part of the Stoughton Area Senior Center’s Music Appreciation Series. There were 86 people in attendance, and we enjoyed the lively acoustics of the hall and the warm reception. Enjoy the video samples below and the images in the Photo Gallery.