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 in Iowa. We work hard to give young musicians a venue where they can hear the high quality performances in a smoke-free and family-friendly atmosphere.

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 Adventureland Inn 

Mondays, 6:30pm

March 1 - The DSM Big Band

March 5-7 - The DSM Big Band at the Variety Club Telethon

March 8 - The DSM Big Band

March 15 - The DSM Big Band

March 29 - DSMBB w/Valley Jazz Orch

April 5 - The DSM Big Band

April 12 - DSMBB w/ Johnston HS

April 19 - The DSM Big Band

April 26 - DSMBB w/ Valley Jazz Ens.

May 4 - Peter Sommer on sax

May 10 - The DSM Big Band

May 17 - The DSM Big Band

May 24 - The DSM Big Band

The Des Moines Big Band was founded in 1959 and has been going strong ever since. Considered 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.