Evento

Live at Studio5: STEVE RASHID & THE PORKPIES

Steve Rashid, piano/harmonica/vocal
Paul Mertens, saxophones
Don Stiernberg, guitar/mandolin
Jim Cox, bass
Kevin Connelley, drums

This whole show started with a suggestion from my good pal, Victoria Zielinski. When I mentioned to her that 2019 is Nat "King" Cole's centennial and that I was planning to do a show at Studio5, she reminded me that my old band, The Porkpies, was focused on Nat's music. She's right. I started The Porkpies in the late 1980s (gulp!) to try to recreate some of Nat's music from the late 40s (Straighten up and Fly Right, Route 66, Too Marvelous For Words). I was absolutely in love with that stuff. I thought it would be a fun experiment to play those tunes using the musical vocabulary of the time ... not like we were trying to BE his band, just trying to be a band in that era interested in the same music. And I didn't want it to be campy or put-on. I just wanted to explore the music. I called a bunch of friends, wrote some arrangements, and off we went. We played many clubs in Chicago and the group was together in one form or another for a decade or so. It had several lineups during that time. The group on Friday will not be the original lineup, but Don Stiernberg and Kevin Connelley were there from the outset. Paul Mertens and Jim Cox were later additions as other guys moved on, and we all remain good friends and happy collaborators. However, I'm pretty sure that these guys, in this context, have not played together in over 15 years.

BTW this was the band I had when I met my bride, and I think she just might come to the show! And besides that, it's my birthday weekend! So I'm giving myself the gift of making music with some old pals. Come on out to here us, and celebrate Steve puttin' on another lap around the Sun.

Join us. We'll be recording this performance for Chicago Jazz Live on WDCB, so you'll be part of the studio audience!

Cash bar, light snacks, free parking right outside. Doors open for cocktails at 7:30.

[NOTE: ONLINE TICKET SALES END ONE HOUR PRIOR TO THIS EVENT. REMAINING TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR.]