When it comes to covering the musical spectrum, Keith Droste has “played it all.” This year, Chicago native Droste plans to cover it all — Broadway show tunes, standards, jazz and pop — when he returns with his quintet. Downbeat for Droste is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at the Idyllwild Community Center site.
Droste, who for 15 years was Frankie Avalon’s music director, has played keyboard with many famous musicians including Jimmy Dorsey, Vaughn Monroe, Bob Cosby and Tex Beneke. He has backed Annette Funicello, James Darren, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee and Bob Hope. He is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston and studied with Oscar Peterson in Canada.
Droste plans a spirited and mellifluous evening under the stars — some things stirring, some swaying, and some sweet — all in all, the perfect night for singing along and dancing cheek to cheek.
Opening for Droste at 6:15 p.m. will be local luminary Marshall Hawkins and Friends. Hawkins has played with the best of the best in jazz, including Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Richie Cole and fellow D.C. native Roberta Flack. Hawkins co-founded Jazz in the Pines, Idyllwild’s annual jazz festival, now in its 18th year and is the founder and leader of the Seahawk Modern Jazz Orchestra.
The Idyllwild Summer Concert Series (ISCS) must still raise more than $5,600 to break even. Sponsors and contributors may contact ISCS producer Ken Dahleen at (951) 659-2229, deposit checks into the ISCS account at BBVA Compass Bank or send checks to Idyllwild Summer Concerts Inc., P.O. Box 1542, Idyllwild, CA 92549.
