July concerts continue for king band:

The month of July promises to be another busy and exciting one for the members of the Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge. Director Jerrold P. Jimmerson has recently announced events that are scheduled to occur on the first four Sunday evenings during the month.

All concerts begin at 7:30 pm, and are free to the public, courtesy of the City of Fort Dodge. The concerts on July 2, July 9, and July 23 will be held at the Karl L. King Band Shell in Oleson Park. Due to the Shellabration concert at the Band Shell on July 15, the concert on Sunday, July 16th had to be moved to Karl L. King Memorial Park downtown in front of the Fort Dodge Public Library.

The homemade ice cream social provided by the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church precedes each concert, even the July

16th one, when it will still be available downtown. Also, there may not be public restrooms available at the Library for the July 16 concert.

On July 2nd, the King Band will present a special concert of patriotic songs honoring America’s Independence Day. Music from the exciting “Overture Solennelle 1812” by Tschaikovsky is guaranteed to bring about a renewed sense of patriotism. Along with marches by Sousa and King to familiar melodies in “Broad Stripes and Bright Stars”, plus a musical tribute to jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong titled “Satchmo!”, this concert will feature something for everybody. A special performance by our Trumpet Trio on “Bugler’s Holiday” will delight all those in attendance. Closing out this concert will be America’s national march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever”, always an inspiration to all who hear it.

The July 9th concert will again present lots of variety, from Franz von Suppe’s classic overture, “Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna” to a tribute to the Jazz era with Robert Buckley’s “Jitterbug!” The music of Karl King is always on every concert and includes his circus march, “Neddermeyer Triumphal” along with a beautiful aerial waltz, “Mystic Night” and the circus galop, “Excelsior”. A local Fort Dodge Senior High graduate, Collin Ellsbury, will join the band to sing highlights from the popular Broadway musical, “Man of La Mancha”.

The concert on July 16th promises even more surprises. First, the concert has been moved downtown instead of being at the Band Shell. Conductor Jimmerson is planning another evening of varied band music, with everything from the Franz Joseph Haydn overture to the opera “Armida” to the “Sounds of the Tijuana Brass”, plus marches by Karl King and John Philip Sousa among others, and a trombone section feature as well!

The closing concert of the summer season on July 23rd will be the band’s Grand Finale back in the Band Shell. Opening with Karl L. King’s most famous march, “Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite”, along with Rossini’s classic overture “The Italian in Algiers”, it promises to be an exciting conclusion to another great season. This concert will feature the popular area brass quintet, Jive for Five, on an original composition, appropriately titled “Jive for Five,” along with an audience favorite, “Dixieland On Stage”. Members of the band’s percussion section will be featured on “Field Ayres”, a collection of traditional snare drum solos. This final concert always ends in the traditional circus way with the playing of Karl King’s march, “Auld Lang Syne”, as another season of band music at the Karl L. King Band Shell will draw to a close.