Jonas Magram Jazz Trio

Join us Saturday, March 15th 7pm and enjoy the jazz trio of Jonas Magram, vocals and tenor sax, Dick Watson, piano, and double-bassist Gary Palmer. Jonas Magram Jazz brings to life the very ... Show more

Join us Saturday, March 15th 7pm and enjoy the jazz trio of Jonas Magram, vocals and tenor sax, Dick Watson, piano, and double-bassist Gary Palmer. Jonas Magram Jazz brings to life the very best of America’s “Golden Age of Music” including Latin, Swing, and Blues. Their repertoire includes jazz favorites like “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got ThatSwing),” “Wonderful World,” “Autumn Leaves,” “‘When I Fall In Love,” “Almost Like Being In Love,” “All of Me,” and “Route 66,” “Tequila,” “Watermelon Man,” “You Don’t Know Me.” Though known throughout Southeast Iowa as a master of a wide range of musical styles, Jonas is especially at home singing legendary jazz standards. (His father was a professional jazz musician, so the genre runs in the family.) As one Jonas Magram Jazz fan put it, “It’s rare that a single vocalist can melt your heart one moment and make you want to get up and dance the next the way Jonas does.” In addition to vocals, Jonas adds some sweet tenor sax licks as well. Pianist Dick Watson has play most of the last 20 years on Friday and Saturday nights with his trio at The Lighthouse Inn in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has performed in a number of local festivals and venues in the area over the years including the Bix Festival in Davenport and the Cedar Basin Festival in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Dick has played with Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Boots Randolph, Roy Clark, Al Hirt, Smokey Stover, Ray Blue, Rusty Jones, Bill Allred, Pee Wee Matese, J. R. Monterose, Ira Sullivan and Dave Bennett among others. Double bassist, Gary Palmer, has had a varied musical career. Originally from Wisconsin, he studied bass there with Dr. Joan Orvis and completed a Masters at the University of Iowa in Double Bass Performance. Upon completion of his degree, he became the Principal Bass with the Cedar Rapids Symphony where he stayed until 1997. In 2001 he became the Principal Bass with the Quad Cities Symphony until 2014. On the jazzy side of things, he has performed with the Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo and Dick Jurgens orchestras. He was a member of the Paul Hemmer Solid Gold Swing Band, the UI Jazztet, the Bons Amigos Brazilian Jazz Trio. Presently he has a private studio where he teaches bass.
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