Appearing every Monday 6:30 to 9:30, October thru May at the Adventureland Inn,

Altoona Iowa with dinner and drinks available all evening

Over the course of our fifty-year history there have been enormous changes in jazz — from the bossa invasion of the 60s, to fusion, afro-cuban and the hard-bop revival. Our repertoire includes selections from all of these styles and many more. The mission is to present our community with a place to hear cutting edge jazz without having to fly to Manhattan or the West Coast. We commission new compositions from nationally-recognized composers every year while still keeping the classics in the book.

We’re also committed to student musicians. We’ve worked hard to give young musicians a venue where they can hear high quality performances in a smoke-free, family-friendly atmosphere. We also invite high-school and college bands to share the stage with us most weeks.

We play because we love jazz and feel a real sense of responsibility for keeping it alive and vibrant. Please join us in celebrating a truly original American art form!

The Des Moines Big Band was founded in 1959 and has been going strong ever since. The elite jazz orchestra for hundreds of miles around, it has become a regular stop for touring artists such as Bobby Shew, Frank Perowsky, Dick Oatts, John Fedchock, Paul McKee, Richie Cole, John Mosca and Clark Terry to mention just a few. 

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