Every city has its jazz heroes, and Des Moines is no exception. For the past 22 years, the Community Jazz Center of Greater Des Moines (CJC) has honored these heroes with its Annual Hall of Fame and Special Recognition Awards. This year’s event is scheduled for the evening of Sunday, October 22, at Noce in downtown Des Moines.
CJC will be inducting trumpeter Dave Rezek and saxophonist/educator Chris Merz into the Hall of Fame, which now numbers a total of 56 individuals from the jazz community.
∙ Dave Rezek — After spending 11 years playing in the Boston and New York City area, trumpeter Dave Rezek returned to his hometown to pursue a busy career as a private teacher, clinician, jazz festival adjudicator, front/sideman and guest artist. Among his many achievements since returning to Des Moines include being named the director of the Des Moines Big Band, founding a jazz series at the former Des Moines Social Club, being a faculty member on the University of Northern Iowa’s Summer Jazz Combo Camp, teaching at Susie Miget’s Creative Music Studio and serving as the jazz band director at Roosevelt High. Today, you can catch Dave performing with his original music sextet, Alpha State Agents, as well as playing with the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra, the Max Wellman Big Band, the Tony Valdez Large Band and others.
∙ Chris Merz — Although he may not call Des Moines home, saxophonist Chris Merz has had a tremendous impact on many area musicians who attended the University of Northern Iowa where he served as director of jazz studies since 2002. A past president of the Jazz Educators of Iowa, founder and director of the UNI Combo Camp and a member of the Iowa Jazz Educators’ Hall of Fame, Chris is also a frequent performer in Des Moines with his own groups — The X-tet, Equilateral, Christopher’s Very Happy Band and Shorter Stories — as well as recently appearing with the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra at Jazz in July. On more than one occasion, Chris has made the drive to Des Moines to share his passion and skill with students attending CJC’s first Sunday of the month jam sessions.
Other awards to be presented at the event include:
∙ Special Recognition Awards will be given to saxophonist Dave Bohl, trombonist John Kendeigh and long-time CJC treasurer Ron Rubek.
∙ The Next Generation Award, which focuses on up-and-coming musicians who are making an impact on music in Des Moines, will be presented to pianist/trumpeter Nate Sparks.
∙ The Bobby Dawson Award, presented to a student musician who has been involved with the CJC monthly jam sessions, will be awarded to saxophonist Andrew Wittmer who will be graduating from Waukee’s Northwest High School this year.
This year’s Hall of Fame will be held October 22, 2023 at Noce, 1326 Walnut Street in downtown Des Moines. The Hall of Fame event will kick off at 5:00 p.m. with a reception and dinner. The awards ceremony will begin at 6:00 p.m. which will include performances from this year’s winners as well as past Hall of Fame winners and special guests.
Admission is $20 for advanced tickets and $25 at the door. Food and drinks will be available for an additional charge. Proceeds from this event fund the Community Jazz Center’s youth activities. Tickets can be ordered online at www.cjc-dsm.org or www.nocedsm.com. They are also available by calling 515-279-6452 or emailing abegold1951@gmail.com.
The CJC Hall of Fame is always a very special night jam packed with live jazz performances and tributes that you won’t want to miss! Visit dmcommunityjazzcenter.org for more information about the event and the Community Jazz Center of Greater Des Moines.
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