There’s no doubting Tulsa’s rich music history. We’ve always been a city captivated by live music, especially jazz. With the fall season starting to hit us, music is in full swing downtown, and we feel that its about time.

The Jazz Hall of Fame is celebrating their one year anniversary in their new building, The Jazz Depot; the BOK Arena is slated to open soon with tons of concerts already booked; and new businesses are either starting up or re-locating downtown. The new Downtown Tulsa is changing…and that’s a good thing.

Here’s what the Jazz Depot, who’s motto is "Creating Unity Through Music" has going on through the rest of the year:

September 14 – Songstress – Ms. Olivia Duhon

Ms. Duhon is a TU grad and hot new jazz vocalist with trio, Sonny Gray, Vernon Howard and George Toumayan.

September 21 – Two Gents of Song – Jason De Long and Devre Jackson

Two of the Jazz Hall’s favorites, Mr. De Long and Mr. Jackson are planning a knock-out performance, with Mike Leland on piano, Spike Gore on drums and Nigel Frye on bass.

September 27 –  Kansas City, Mo. American Jazz Museum All-Stars

Greg Carroll (Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum), sax man Gerald Dunn, and other Kansas City jazz all-stars make appearance at the Jazz Depot with a slam dunk performance.

October 5 – Still Jazzin’ Our Way’ With the Midnight Social Club Quartet

Pam Van Dyke Crosby, local jazz vocal favorite sings up a storm with Bill Crosby on bass; guitarist, Frank Brown; drummer, Wade Robertson drums and Jeff Newsome on piano.

October 12 – Amy Cottingham and Friends

Pianist/vocalist Amy Cottingham brilliantly plays jazz, classical, pop and practically any other style of music. She will be joined by her trio.

October 19 – Chuck Gardner “Music From My Heart”

Pianist, Chuck Gardner is a jazz standard at the Jazz Hall and plans a special concert featuring original compositions of his, never heard before in Tulsa. He’s joined by Bill Crosby on bass and Tony Yohe on drums, with special guest vocalists.

October 26 – An Evening with Janet Rutland

The always top-notch vocalist will blow the roof off the Jazz Depot with guitarist, Randy Wimer and her special blend of music and style.

November 2 – Presenting the Annie Ellicott Trio

From young to old alike, Annie Ellicott has carved a niche in everyone’s heart with her shining vocals and wonderful scatting ability. She will be joined by her dad, Rod Ellicott on bass, Wade Robertson on drums, and Frank Brown on guitar.

November 9 – TU Big Jazz Band One

The swinging sound of big band music with TU’s stunning jazz ensemble, and vocalists will be on the bandstand too. Under the musical direction of Jazz Studies professor, Vernon Howard.

November 16 – Ernestine Dillard & the Tulsa Praise Orchestra

World-renowned gospel vocalist and Oklahoma music treasure, Ms. Dillard performs all of your classic gospel selections with the amazing Oklahoma Praise Orchestra.

November 30 – Ellington’s “Sophisticated Ladies” – The Stage Concert

Stage version of the Broadway hit, Sophisticated Ladies will feature a number of top-flight vocalists, with staging by Jazz Hall CEO, Chuck Cissel

December 7 – Jeff Shadley & His Big Band’s “Ring-a-Ding Ding”

“Ole Blue Eyes” shows up at the Depot in the form of vocalist Jeff Shadley and his big band performing your favorite Sinatra tunes, also with plenty of brand new music.

December 14 – Holiday “Jazz Jam” Session

Leon Rollerson’s Band will perform holiday tunes and collaborate with area jazz musicians and vocalists coming together to celebrate the Christmas holiday in an evening of straight-ahead jammin’.

December 21 – Gospel Workshop Choir of America

Making their annual visit to the Jazz Depot performing gospel selections with the choral sound only the Gospel of Workshop Choir can. Musical director is Jazz Hall Inductee, Dr. Joey Crutcher.

December 28 – J3 Acoustic Jazz and Blues Band

Back by popular demand, J3 took the Hall by storm on their first visit, and now they are coming back like a hurricane – to absolutely blow you away with their fine musicianship and vocals. Added treat will be holiday music on the menu.

Site: www.okjazz.org

All concerts are at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame building – The Jazz Depot. Its located at 111 E. 1st St.  Phone: (918) 596-1001

Organum Records will host a night of the best original music Oklahoma has to offer on Friday, August 29 at Exit 6C. Dorian Small, based out of Norman, will be joining Archer Collective for his first Tulsa appearance since last year’s Dfest. With two albums receiving shining reviews (“every track surprises you with depth, recording quality, composition, and a feeling of nostalgic excitement”- Nonzine) and fresh off a successful two-week East coast tour with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Dorian’s performance will be one not to be missed.

Archer Collective and is officially debuting its new line-up: Josh Raymer- Drums, Andrew Bones- Drums/Keys, Matt Hayes- Bass, Chris Combs- Guitar/Lap Steel, and Dylan Aycock- Pedal Steel/Effects. Innovative instrumental material, superior musicianship, and a full-length album in the works make Archer Collective the group to watch for 2008 (“what’s amazing is that these guys really are in the top-tier of performers, statewide…it’s safe to say that, locally, they’re the best at what they do”- Urban Tulsa Weekly).

Be sure to check out Archer Collective’s myspace at www.myspace.com/archercollective and Dorian Small at www.myspace.com/doriansmall

All the details at a glance

WHO: Archer Collective and Dorian Small
WHEN: Friday August 29th at 9:30PM
WHERE: Exit 6C, 1st and Detroit
WHAT: Ages 21+ and cover is $5.00USD

This past weekend, Shattuck and I rep’d ThisTulsa at DFest. To be honest, my expectations of this festival were not that high in the beginning. I was a little prejudice to how well big-time artists would be received by the Tulsa crowd. Man was I wrong…

The headliner for the closing night of DFest was The Roots. A hip-hop band that really needs no introduction, put on a show that I thought was nothing short of stellar. The band, who recently dropped their 10th album Rising Down, rocked the house at Tulsa’s annual DFest downtown. Since ThisTulsa was recognized as a “legitimate” news company, we had the ability to snap some great shots of their performance and hang out backstage while the performance rocked on.

Hopped up on RedBull, Justin and I took gigs of photos over the weekend. You can find them in various locations like Flickr; here and here as well as the bottom of every ThisTulsa web page.

How do you think DFest did this year Tulsa?

Last weekend is likely to be remembered as one of the most rocking weekends presented to our community. Friday afternoon, I stopped by the Dfest media tent to pick-up our staff writers’ press badges and related materials. Later, we arrived downtown to begin capturing the moments from some extremely marvelous bands.

The night immediately began with a killer performance by Paramore; however, we missed the amazing show (so-we-heard) from Danelle Phillips’s band Congress of a Crow. Although we missed Congress of a Crow’s performance, we did not miss the opportunity to socially network and have a chat with Danelle Phillips, their lead singer. We even persuaded her to throw up the 918, in support of both our website and the local community she represents. “Thank you so much!” she exclaimed as we presented her with a memory card for her digital camera so she could capture the moments herself.

Given the opportunity to sit backstage and converse with the bands and the other members of press was more than a great experience; it was an opportunity for us to show our wealth to the community. Even something small and generous like giving away AA batteries to a random fan backstage of Paramore or giving Danelle a memory card was our chance to be positive. This feeling was more than reciprocated throughout the event. All of the bands were generous with their time and words.

The All American Rejects blasted fans away with a pretty long performance with all their current and previous hits. We met a few great fans and captured some pretty sick shots of the group. Throughout the night we continued to snap photos, take names, and try to mentally note the performances and performers. We did a pretty decent job, from talking to Doug, a 12 year old fan who was leaning against the railing jamming out to “Move Along,” to four random guys we met while picking up refreshments.

Meeting up with Anthony a.k.a. PDA Friday night and being personally invited to his show Saturday at the Blank Slate stage was a great feeling. He has read our website (thistulsa.com) before and was more than supportive of our small-time publication here. Friday night ended with a small party at Brad’s house with some friends and family of PDA and ourselves.

We continued to rock out Dfest Saturday with Sworn Against, PDA, The Roots, Zappa Plays Zappa, Colourmusic, and the crowds backstage.

The parties were great, crowds polite, people awesome, performers excellent, and overall left a definite hole after it was said and done. More about each individual band and their performance soon!

The All-American Rejects are Stillwater’s breakout pop stars. They’re last album sold a multi-million number of copies worldwide and their upcoming album — set to release this fall —was named No. 2 on Alternative Press magazine’s 2008 anticipated albums of the year list.

Members of the band and its management will participate in a question-answer panel from 4:30 to 6pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Tulsa. They will discuss their rise from having $1000 in the bank (between all of them) to selling multi-platinum records. They will also share their experience in creating new revenue streams like Tyson’s Butter Clothing and Edmond Records, the label of Dfest act The City Lives.

The panel will be available to all registered participants of the Dfest conference, at no additional charge to conference registration. Conference badges must be worn to gain entry; music festival wristbands are not valid for admission.

To register for the conference, visit www.dfest.com and click “tickets.” Conference badges are good for entry into the conference, trade show and music festival, with priority entrance to club stages.
At 11:50 p.m., July 25, The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame will present the band with its “Rising Star” award on Dfest’s Hadaly Stage, prior to their performance.

The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame gives the award to individuals or groups who have attained significant national notice for their musical talent and have a solid connection to Oklahoma by birthright, moving to the state at an early age, living in Oklahoma for a significant portion of his or her career, writing songs or music about Oklahoma, or furthering music in the state of Oklahoma.

“The All-American Rejects is an Oklahoma native band that’s achieved tremendous national success and proudly represents Oklahoma,” said Beth Seim, executive director of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. “We’re excited to present them with this prestigious award at a festival that has put Oklahoma on the map.”

“We’re so appreciative that the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame is presenting the band with this award at Dfest,” said Tom Green, Dfest co-creator. “Oklahoma roots run deep at this festival, so we always make a point to feature an Oklahoma artist as a major headliner. This award from the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame solidifies this long-standing Dfest tradition.”

About Dfest

The seventh annual Dfest is the Midwest’s largest music festival and most comprehensive music conference. Featuring 11 stages in downtown Tulsa’s Blue Dome District July 25-26, Dfest will feature renowned national acts, including The All-American Rejects, The Roots, The Disco Biscuits, Clutch, Paramore, Zappa Plays Zappa, Ghostland Observatory, moe., Helmet, Phantom Planet, Edison Glass, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, AM, Ty England, Ravi, The Apples In Stereo, Joshua James and Cory Chisel. In addition, Dfest will feature 130 unsigned artists and more than 40 conference panelists. More than 60,000 music enthusiasts are expected to attend the two-day event that highlights more than 20 musical genres. Tickets are on sale now at www.dfest.com.

The 2008 Green Country Eco-Expo & One Love Music Fest (formerly Reggae Fest Tulsa) is coming! On July 11th through the 12th this free event will feature music, art, products, and information about the popular trend of living green. It will be held at the Jenks Riverwalk Crossing and Ampitheatre. One of the main objectives of the festival is to be a zero impact carbon neutral event. Come out to hear some great live music, learn more about living a green lifestyle, see some amazing art, and have a good time!

If the first round of confirmations didn’t cut it for you, The All-American Rejects, The Roots, Ty England, moe., Phantom Planet and The Apples in Stereo all confirmed headlining spots with Tulsa’s Dfest today. With over 1500 submissions for the 120 stage spots, Dfest has definitely booked some great acts. If you have not got your tickets yet, make sure you do! You can get all the details on the Dfestwebsite, dfest.com.

Looking for something fun to do on Memorial Day weekend? The gates for Backwoods Bash, a charity concert taking place May 23 open at 3:00PM and only costs $15 per vehicle for the entire festival. Pack up some food, friends, and lots of fun and head 15ish miles outside of Tulsa to Mannford Lake, Oklahoma. Thundermoon Ranch and Paintball will be hosting the event.

There are a lot of exciting music festivals taking place this summer and Backwoods Bash is no exception. The line up consists of: Will Porter, Todd DAvis, Daydreamer, Damn the Man, Tech Tonic, Greg Ghroeder, Joel Wade, ValerieStar, Cannonball Sunday, The Banner Year, Somewhat Lucky, Full Service, and Ghosts.

All in all the weekend should be a lot of fun. For more details and information, check out Backwoods Bash website.

Thundermoon Ranch and Paintball [View Google Map]
33440 W 51st Street South
Mannford, OK 74044
Phone: 918-260-6260

Dfest, Tulsa’s fabulous musical festival July 25-26, 2008 officially announced their line-up Wednesday. We mentioned to you that there was a coupon code okctix for Okctickets.com online orders. The coupon code allowed you to save an additional $5.00 on the alright advanced ticket price of $30.00.

However, now, and we’re sorry it’s late news, but Dfest is offering a two-day advance ticket sale that puts the tickets at $28.00 each! Use the coupon code df08 when ordering from Okctickets.com and save even more!

The coupon code is good until April 26, 2008. For a break down in prices and available discounts, visit Dfest.com