Friday, August 18: 5 – 10 p.m.
Saturday, August 19: Noon – 10 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 601 Ninth Street, Rock Island IL
Sunday, August 20: 3 – 8 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Polyrhythms hosts a tribute to “The Jazz Professor” Bill Bell – the accomplished jazz musician, longtime educator, and former East Moline resident who passed away in March – with free weekend performances by local and national musicians and dancers, including the Sunday headliners of 2 Brown Sisters. Over the course of his distinguished career, Bell was a resident artist with the Mississippi Valley Blues Society and the third artist to perform (in 2005) in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Series, and is one of only five local musicians honored on the River Music Experience's Wall of Fame.
Friday's schedule at Rock Island's Martin Luther King Jr. Park includes concert sets with the Metropolitan Youth Program at 5:45 p.m., Reggie & the 3 Notes at 6 p.m., The Curtis Hawkins Band at 7:15 p.m., and Los Mocambos at 8:45 p.m.
Saturday's park schedule boasts Philip Seward's Hand & Heart Drumming at noon and 2:30 p.m., the area's Heritage Youth at 1 p.m., dance with Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico at 2 and 3:15 p.m., The Low Down at 4 p.m., James Culver & Kuchina Jazz Collective at 5:30 p.m., The Uniphonics at 6:45 p.m., and Frankie Fontagne & the Ramblers at 8:45 p.m.
Sunday's celebration continues at Davenport's Redstone Room with a 4 p.m. Musical Tribute to Bill Bell featuring Daniel Leahy, Ron Wilson, Manuel Lopez III, and Manny Lopez. And at 6 p.m., renowned jazz singers Maggie and Africa Brown – daughters of singer/songwriter and playwright Oscar Brown Jr. – perform from their 2 Brown Sisters repertoire that blends classical jazz with hip-hop, ballads, and folk tales.
Admission is free to all events in the Polyrhythms' Bill Bell Jazz & Heritage Festival, and more information is available by visiting Facebook.com/polyjazzheritagefest.
