Steve Giove, retiring United States Marine Corps drummer and band leader, brings a septet of veteran USMC musicians to the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series.
Whimsically named MCJAM, Marine Corps Jazz Alumni Musicians, the seven take stage at the Butterfield Commons at Strawberry Creek at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 28.
Six are USMC veterans and one is still active duty. The Idyllwild concert will be MCJAM’s premiere outing. MCJAM is a spinoff of the Marine Corps All Star Jazz Band, a renowned active-duty ensemble of 20 musicians hand-picked from the finest of the corps’ musicians.
Giove, as drummer, leads the ensemble that includes trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, piano, bass and guitar. “We’ll be doing a variety of things,” said Giove, “from smooth jazz to straight jazz to Latin jazz as well as jazz standards.”
There is no opening act for MCJAM.
Concert-goers are reminded to bring chairs, flashlights (for leaving the site when it is dark) and money to fill the donation jars. Each summer, Ken Dahleen and his ISCS board begin the series with insufficient money to fund the more than $30,000 budget. ISCS relies on the community’s generosity to support its eight-week series, presented free for locals on Thursday nights on the Idyllwild Community Center site.