QUAD CITIES — Featuring jazz, soul and funk bands with followings from Des Moines, Ia., to Peoria, Ill., the Soul of the City Music Festival takes place in Rock Island and Davenport this weekend over three days.
Renowned percussionist James Culver will perform throughout Soul of the City, including with the Kuchina Trio Sunday afternoon in Davenport.
Starting Friday evening, this 10th annual festival is a celebration of East Moline native and Quad Cities jazz legend “Bill” Bell. The free event kicks off with a drum circle and features musicians from the Quad Cities’ own Kuchina Trio and Quad City Griots all throughout the weekend, along with jazz, soul and funk pioneers from Galesburg, Geneseo and Peoria in Illinois, and Cedar Falls, Des Moines and Iowa City in Iowa.
Other highlights of the weekend are a celebration of Black authors through a panel and book fair; a Saturday morning parade; a kids’ stage show Saturday evening; and a community resource fair and plenty of vendors with wares for sale. Friday and Saturday take place at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Rock Island; Sunday’s afternoon of music happens at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities in Davenport.
Semyena McCord, a top jazz vocalist based in Galesburg, performs Saturday and Sunday.
Bell’s upbringing and influence is the subject of a 2022 book by local author Shellie Moore Guy. “How Little Billy Learned to Play,” available through the Midwest Writing Center, is a children’s book that shares how a fictional young Bill Bell “learns to play Hambone from his Uncle Ferdinand, jams with other famed East Moline musicians Esther Clark and Mallie Williams, and learns where the rhythm comes from, ” writes the Center.
Eighteen Black authors from the Quad Cities region will be showcased at the Black Authors’ Forum and Book Fair that is part of this weekend’s Soul of the City festival.
The weekend features Geneseo’s Jerm Theory, Peoria’s John Miller and the Romaniacs, and Galesburg’s Semenya McCord of Galesburg. Miller’s band offers self-described “gypsy jazz,” and McCord’s accolades including Best Jazz Vocalist at the 1988 Boston Music Festival.
Two Iowa bands are featured: BYOBrass, a collective of jazz artists that started in Cedar Falls and now tours from Des Moines, and The Swampland Jewels, an Iowa City-based band that plays zydeco, cajun/creole and TexMex.
BYOBrass, a collective that started in Cedar Falls and now hails from Des Moines, performs Sunday.
The Polyrhythms are one of three Quad Cities-based groups to perform during Soul of the City. The nonprofit is committed to making jazz accessible and holds performances and workshops year-round. Also performing from the Quad Cities: the Kuchina Jazz Trio featuring James Culver, and the Quad City Griots.
You can find the full weekend schedule here — including Friday night’s Black authors panel, and Saturday’s parade and kids/teen performances, along with a description of each performer.
