Strollin Middleton Jazz Festival

Arts + Literature Laboratory and Middleton Community Development Authority present the 2025 Strollin' Middleton Jazz Festival on Friday, September 5, and Saturday, September 6 on the Stone Horse Green, 7550 Hubbard Avenue. This year we celebrate the 10th year of Strollin' Middleton! Join us for two nights of jazz, food, and fun for all ages! Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic baskets, or enjoy food and drinks from local restaurants, shops, and participating food trucks.

Please fill out the short feedback survey if you attended Strollin' Middleton.

Friday, September 5:
5:30pm: Madi-Son Latin Project featuring Darren Sterud, Yorvanis Duran, Ben Ferris, Chris Rottmayer, and Brayan Riascos.
7:30pm: Matt Blair Quartet, featuring Matt Blair, Russ Johnson, Brian Courage, and Hannah Johnson

Saturday, September 6
5:00pm: Jon Hoel Trio featuring Jon Hoel, Ben Ferris, and Kelby Kryshak
7:00pm: Moses Patrou Band

Moses Patrou

Moses Patrou is a singer and songwriter from New York City with a distinct and warm baritone voice that he compliments with his Hammond organ playing that seamlessly blends Blues, Soul, Country and Jazz, much like one might be accustomed to hearing in places like Memphis or New Orleans, creating a cozy atmosphere, sometimes subtle, sometimes exciting, always entertaining.

Darren Sterud

Darren Sterud has been an active, young, freelance trombonist in Wisconsin and Minnesota since 2001. While still in high school Darren began playing and touring with Mama Digdown's Brass Band, a popular New Orleans style group from Madison, WI.

He went on to study music performance with Maynard alum, Steve Wiest at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. A gifted student, Darren played in the university Jazz Symposium, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Winds. He also started his own band at college, The New Tradition Brass Band.

Darren has played with other active musical groups in Madison including the Tony Castaneda Latin Jazz Band, Grupo Candela, The Jimmys and the Clyde Stubblefield Blues Band. In 2010 he was invited to perform in the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra directed by Stan Kenton alumni, Joel Kaye. He has taken the stage with several Twin Cities bands such as the Jack Brass Band, Southside Aces, Seven Steps to Havana and Charanga... Read More

Yorvanis Duran

Yorvanis Duran is a highly accomplished percussionist and music educator. He began his musical journey at the age of 10, studying at the Regino Eladio Botis School, where he excelled in national and regional percussion competitions, earning numerous awards. Yorvanis continued his education at the Esteban Salas Conservatory in Santiago de Cuba, where he participated in advanced percussion workshops and performed with distinguished ensembles. A highlight of this period was his participation in the orchestra that performed for Pope John Paul II during his visit to Santiago de Cuba. In 2000, Yorvanis advanced his studies at the University of the Arts (ISA) in Havana, Cuba. During this time, he joined one of Cuba’s most prestigious orchestras, Maraca y Otra Visión. With this ensemble, he toured over 25 countries and performed at some of the world’s most renowned jazz and world music festivals. Yorvanis also conducted workshops and masterclasses at esteemed... Read More

Ben Ferris

Ben Ferris is a bassist and educator from Madison, WI. A student of NEA Jazz Master Richard Davis, he graduated with a music-education degree from UW-Madison in 2013. Ben performs regularly in the midwest, especially with the Ben Ferris Trio, a creative music ensemble that focuses on new compositions by musicians in the band. His group the Ben Ferris Quintet released their debut album, “Home” in 2016 featuring original compositions by Ben and other members of the ensemble. A self-release, it is available exclusively on CD and Bandcamp. He also leads the Ben Ferris Octet, a group that plays a diverse selection of jazz repertoire. Ben also competed as a finalist in the 2017 International Society of Bassists Jazz Performance competition. Ben plays and writes music for “Mr Chair,” a contemporary ensemble of electronic trombone (Mark Hetzler), keyboard (Jason Kutz), percussion (Mike Koszewski) and electronic upright bass. As a sideman Ben performs with Nuggernaut (jazz-funk), The Jon... Read More

Chris Rottmayer

Chris Rottmayer is a jazz pianist, composer, and jazz vibraphonist living in Madison, Wisconsin. Chris has been a freelance jazz pianist since 1990, was a pianist for Walt Disney World from 1999 to 2020, and has released three albums as a leader: Reactive Synthesis (2013), Sunday at Pilars (2019), and So In Love (2020). Chris is currently the Instructor of Jazz Piano at the University of South Florida, where he has taught since 2007, and is pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin- Madison where he holds a Teaching Assistantship in the Theory department. (Source: chrisrottmayer.com)

Matt Blair

Matt Blair is a pianist, composer, and educator who recently returned to Madison, WI. His work draws upon diverse musical traditions such as contemporary classical, electro-acoustic improvisation, free jazz, minimalism, and noise. In addition to his practice as a pianist, he incorporates extended electronic processing of the Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, and the computer in his music.

Since 2018, Matt has been releasing music on his label, Scribbled Fang Records. Recent releases have included Shadow Sets, a collection of compositions for solo piano that was produced by Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple), Post Rock Lately, the debut record of Collector, an improvising trio featuring Jakob Heinemann on bass and Devin Drobka on drums and electronics, and Flights and Poor Health Good Spirits, both releases by Big Thanks, a Minneapolis-based Trash House trio featuring Miles Allen on saxophone and clarinet and Jack Lussenden on drums. Other recent releases have included After... Read More

Russ Johnson

Trumpeter Russ Johnson is a recent Midwest transplant after spending 23 years as an important member of New York City’s jazz community. He has seven recordings as a leader or co-leader and performed on more than 75 recordings as a sideman. Russ has worked alongside many of the legendary figures in jazz including Lee Konitz, Steve Swallow, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano. In addition, he has recorded and/or performed with a long list of the most prominent musicians currently on the international jazz scene, including Myra Melford, Ken Vandermark, and Tony Malaby. Russ has performed in more than 40 countries across the globe. His groups have recently performed at the Chicago, Winter Jazz Fest (NYC) Hyde Park, (Chicago) and Bergamo, (Italy) jazz festivals.

His most recent recordings, Meeting Point (Relay Recordings) and Still Out To Lunch! (Enja Records) received 4 1/2 & 4 stars respectively from Down Beat Magazine and appeared on many "Best Recordings of 2014/5" lists... Read More

Brian Courage

Originally from Long Island, NY, bassist Brian Courage has spent the last decade as an integral part of the creative music scenes in Minneapolis, Brooklyn, and now Chicago, where he currently resides. He has performed alongside an extensive array of nationally acclaimed improvisers, including Greg Ward, Jon Irabagon, Lew Tabackin, David Hazeltine, Jason Stein, Weasel Walter, Michael Lewis, Erik Fratzke, Russ Johnson, JT Bates, and Billy Mintz. Brian is adept at a wide range of styles and has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, renowned vocal quartet The Four Freshmen, the Chicago Tap Theater, and the New York based Americana / blues rock band Hollis Brown, with whom he toured the US and Europe extensively. His most recent creative endeavor is Abhorrent Expanse, a fully improvised metal band. Their debut album "Gateways to Resplendence" has been featured in prominent outlets including Decibel, Metal Injection, Burning Ambulance, and Wire Magazine.

Hannah Johnson

Hannah Johnson provides an adventurous and joyful approach to her musical endeavors. Hannah’s desire to express herself in various genres keeps her busy composing and playing drums within the jazz idiom as well as folk + indie music.

In her Milwaukee based quartet, Heirloom, she brings a mesmerizing optimism and compositional voice. Her awe of rhythm, emotive harmonic structures and a touch of chaos drives Hannah's musical approach. You can hear her enriched sound within her song "ISF" - a harmonically elusive yet personable homage to Duke Ellington’s “Isfahan.”

Hannah has become a highly sought-after side musician, playing with numerous regional and international artists and bands. She recently toured with soul and R&B artist, Durand Jones, who opened for country musician, Orville Peck, on his 2024 North American “... Read More

Jonathan Hoel

Jonathan Hoel is a Madison, WI based saxophonist and composer. Comfortable in all styles of music, his true passion is musical improvisation in all its forms. With 25+ years of study and performance, Jonathan has garnered attention and a loyal following through various projects including his jazz group the Jon Hoel Trio and his new funk project, Better Yeti.

Music was always a part of Jonathan's upbringing. His parents, though not musicians, had a deep love of music and records were always being played in the home. His grandfather was a jazz drummer who possessed a huge vinyl collection and a drum set in the basement. In high school, Jon studied sax and jazz improvisation with Anders Svanoe. He also got to spend a summer studying with jazz legend Frank Morgan. Jonathan attended college at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. where he studied saxophone with David Hastings and jazz theory/improvisation with Mathew Buchman. He received the John Radd... Read More

Kelby Kryshak

Kelby Kryshak is a versatile drummer, music producer, and creator. Playing acoustic drums professionally for nearly two decades, he more recently added producing and creating original electronic and sample-based music to his artistic journey. Kelby has extensive experience working with contemporary dance both in the studio for technique classes as well as in live improvised performance settings. Performance credits include collaborative live music scores for Jamie McHugh’s restaged version of Anna Halprin’s “Circle the Earth”, Carol Teitelbaum’s restaging of Merce Cunningham’s “MinEvent”, as well as Carrie Hanson’s “From Topic to Topography: Mapping Issues Through Movement.” He has also composed multiple original sound score commissions designed specifically for new choreographic works. Not defined by any one genre, Kelby strives to be present when creating, going whatever direction the flow leads and allowing the music to seemingly write itself. His current long... Read More

Strollin Middleton Jazz Festival

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