Jerry Krahn, of the Titan Hot Seven and Jerry Krahn Band is known for playing with a lot of heart. Audiences have said that when Jerry plays they can see his soul. Jerry’s journey began at a young age with an appreciation for many types of music and a passion for jazz.

In his own words, Jerry shares with us his journey:

Born 1953, in the state of Wisconsin, I enjoyed the ethnic and robust sounds of polka music. This deeply rooted style tugged at my heart more than milk and cheese from the dairy barn. At ten the road quickly led to becoming a fixture on that scene, eventually working with greats Verne Meisner and Frankie Yankovich.

As my listening skills and musical styles broadened, I found inspiration and knowledge in Milwaukee jazz legend guitarist Don Momblow, and later contemporary jazz artist Jack Grassel. Including studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and concentrated lessons in a variety of styles. These pursuits led to stints in 1970s show bands, USO tours, and country and pop bands, one of which was Capitol/ABC Nashville recording artist Duane Dee. Later I was a founding member, electric-synth guitarist and front man to the very popular Four Wheel Drive band, performing Top 40 Country and Classic Rock at every major fair, festival and club in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.

A 1990 move to Nashville landed a gig at the Opryland Theme Park where I honed the Dixieland and Trad skills on the plectrum banjo and archtop guitar. That exposure to jazz players in Music City transpired into a hookup with the Titan Hot Seven jazz band.

In 1997 I was playing a New Orleans style jazz brunch here in Nashville. The clarinet, trombone and guitar trio really needed the distinctive “chunk” of an acoustic archtop guitar. As I grabbed a 1946 Epiphone Broadway off the wall at Gruhn guitars, strummed a few chords, I knew instantly I had found a new musical soul mate and sound, in the styles of Eddie Lang, Carl Kress and Freddie Green. Those archtop guitar sounds now find its way into the contemporary styles I use as a soloist and with my group.

My wife Pam and I reside in Hermitage, Tennessee, twenty miles east of “Music Row” in downtown Nashville. My son Robert is associate band director at West Orange High School in Orlando. Daughter Whitney is pursuing her Ph.D. at NYU in French Studies. Mother LaVerne Krahn still lives in Mayville. Both Sisters Joyce and Gloria now own the homestead there.

Other interests include buying and selling vintage musical, hi-fi and stereo gear, along with an occasional antique collectible. For a number of years Jerry utilized his eye for detail and hand skills in the graphic arts trade as a printing pre-press four-color stripper and quality control specialist, while still pursuing his musical career. Jerry now enjoys that pursuit on a successful full-time basis.

Read more about Jerry on his website at www.JerryKrahn.com “Like” him on Facebook.

The Winner of the Jarry Krahn CD is Ronald Wade!

Congratulations!

Carrying the torch of the acoustic archtop guitar! is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Scheduled Artists

Eli Yamin Jazz Pianist

The Gonzalo Bergara Quartet

We have a Winner! is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Midiri Brothers Quintet – “Let it Shine”

The 2012 Sun Valley Jazz Jubilee featured 40 bands that played at 9 different venues. However, on Sunday there was a special gospel set at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood where this song was recorded. The musicians in the Midiri Brothers quintet were: Jim Lawler, Bob Leary, Joe Midiri, Paul Midiri, and Ed Wise

Midiri Brothers Quintet – “Let it Shine” is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

The setting, The Venues and the Bands

Scenic beauty of the Sun Valley area is featured in this video along with some terrific music artistry and a showcase of the nine venues.  The Sun Valley Inn offers The Limelight Room & The Continental Room. The Sun Valley Lodge has the Sun Room, the Lodge Dining Room, and the Duchin Room. There is the famous Opera House and Satchmo’s. The River Run Lodge. The Indoor Ice Rink. Video from the 2012 Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree provided by Franklin Clay Films.

Appearances by:

• The Midiri Brothers – “I’m Going Up to Sun Valley” Benny Goodman Style.
• Big Bang Jazz Band
• Pear Django
• Tom Hook
• Tom Rigney – “The Milk Cow Blues.
• Bill & Shelley
• Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band
• Bruce Innes Trio
• Cornet Chop Suey
• We Three
• Meschiya Lake & dem Lil’ Big Horns
• Glen Crytzer and his Syncopators
• Blue Street Jazz Band
• Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums
• Pietr Meijers Quartet with Brady McKay
• Jerry Krahn Quartet
• Titan Hot Seven
• Yve Evans & Danny Coots
• Night Blooming Jazzmen
• The Whiffenpoofs from Yale
• Dance Lessons & Competitions

“It Happens in Sun Valley” Get tickets now for the next one!

Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree 2012 Video is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Midiri Brothers Quintet “How Great Thou Art”

The Sun Valley Jazz Jubilee featured 40 bands that played at 9 different venues. However, on Sunday there was a special gospel set at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood where this song was recorded. The musicians in the Midiri Brothers quintet were: Jim Lawler, Bob Leary, Joe Midiri, Paul Midiri, and Ed Wise.

Midiri Brothers Quintet “How Great Thou Art” is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Cornet Chop Suey “Amazing Grace” – Bagpipe Version

During the 23rd Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree the Cornet Chop Suey band from St. Louis, MO, performed in packed venues. This video was taken on Friday, October 19, in the Sun Valley Inn’s Limelight room. The tune was introduced as both a tribute to the bagpipes and also American jazz. The band members were Tom Tucker, Brian Casserly, Brett Stamps, Jerry Epperson, Paul Reed, John Gillick and Jay Hungerford.

Cornet Chop Suey “Amazing Grace” – Bagpipe Version is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Whiffenpoofs of Yale sing Midnight Train to Georgia at 2012 Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree

This performance took place on Saturday, October 20, in the Indoor Ice Rink, during the 2012 Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree. Every year 14 men are selected to be in the Whiffenpoofs group at Yale University. This a cappella group started about 100 years ago. “Midnight Train to Georgia” was a number 1 hit in 1973 performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Whiffenpoofs of Yale Sing Midnight Train to Georgia is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree – The Legacy Continues in Sun Valley, Idaho

Featuring music from:

• Ivory&Gold^®
• Trombone Tribute Special Set
• Big Bang Jazz Band
• Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band
• Louis Ford and his New Orleans Jazz Flairs
• Big Band Swing Design
• Jeff Barnhart, Titan Hot Seven
• Pearl Django
• US Coast Guard Dixie Band
• Yve Evans

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “In the musical world, there are certain festivals that rise to the top.”

Bria Skonberg, Big Bang Jazz Band: “I have been to quite a mix of these festivals now and there is a couple of different vibes. There’s the ones where they are all maybe in one small city. There’s ones that are all held in a hotel and this festival you can really tell that everybody that’s in the vicinity of here is really on board to make this festival a success.”

Colin Farquhar, Big Bang Jazz Band: “A beautiful location with great surroundings — amazing musicians.”

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “Sun Valley is like the Crown Jewel of the circuit.”

Bobby Pickwood, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band: “There is no place like Sun Valley Idaho.”

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “This music, it’s not all historical music. It’s music that’s happening now.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “Nobody can really teach you how to play this kind of music. You just have to play it, and play it, and play it.”

Bria Skonberg, Big Bang Jazz Band: “Wow, we wouldn’t be here without having the influence of all of these older musicians that have really taken us under their wing.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “I started playing my horn in 1937 which is seventy-one years ago.”

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “This kind of music is like a time machine.”

Bria Skonberg, Big Bang Jazz Band: “The love of jazz, you know, is cross generational.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “This kind of music started in the early 1900′s or maybe even the late 1800′s.”

Bobby Pickwood, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band: “If you look at the pictures in this hallway and the history of this place and what’s going on here, there is no place in the world like it.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “I met Tom and Barbara before this festival was started for the first time. We both used to go into the jazz joints in Los Angeles before we were supposed so Tom and I just hit it off right away.”

Bobby Pickwood, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band: “When you come here, you can’t help thinking about the past.”

Bobby Pickwood, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band: “When you’re learning music you listen to the older players and you want to emulate, and you want to do what they did.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “Someone could write down a solo for you but if you play it exactly like it’s on the paper it sounds rickey tickey.”

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “Such an emphasis on excellence here.”

Chet Jeager, Night Blooming Jazzmen: “It’s hard to teach someone how to do this. But a good mentor can tell you what you are doing wrong.”

Bria Skonberg, Big Bang Jazz Band: “That fact that they want to come to these gigs, come to these weekends and experience this music, it’s really special.”

Jim Fryer, Titan Hot Seven: “It’s forever music.”

Bria Skonberg, Big Bang Jazz Band: “We can do our part to pass it on, but of course what we have gotten from all of these incredible musicians it’s been invaluable.”

Bobby Pickwood, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band: The history goes back for so long, and to feel like you are part of history to maybe fifty years from now our pictures are going to be somewhere.”

Jeff Loehr, Director, Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree: We hope you guys have had a wonderful week. We have. So we will say our good-byes.”

Carol Loehr, Director, Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree: “Bye-bye!”

The Legacy Continues in Sun Valley is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Sun Valley, Idaho – Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 – October 16-20, 2013

Jazz festival tickets make great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and any occasion A Sweetheart deal!!!

5-Day All Events Badge, Early Bird Special Price $120.00 + tax.
($153.00 at the door, including tax)

The Early Bird pricing expires July 31st, 2012.

Click here to get the Early Bird

Selected Highlights CDs Also Available

Tickets: Early Bird Special Pricing is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013

Sun Valley, Idaho – Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 – October 16-20, 2013

Jazz festival tickets make great stocking stuffers! BEST PRICE of the year!!!

5-Day All Events Badge, Christmas Special Price $115.00 + tax.
($153.00 at the door, including tax)

Hurry! Special Christmas pricing expires December 31st, 2012.

Click here to get the Christmas Special

Selected Highlights CDs Also Available

Christmas Special: Jazz Jamboree Tickets – Best Price All Year! is a post from: Sun Valley, Idaho - Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2013 - October 16-20, 2013