Calendar of Events

Jazz piano marvel Bobby van Deusen was the first musician featured in Charlotte County Jazz Society’s afternoon concerts back in September 2018. He returns to Port Charlotte on Thursday, September 29 to perform in the first of four CCJS matinee concerts planned over the next six months.

Bobby is a master of ragtime, stride, boogie woogie and Dixieland genres. Many will remember the beautiful Phantom of the Opera medley from his last visit. He has performed with Al Hirt, Pete Fountain and Rosie O’Grady’s Dixieland Band in Orlando, as well as the Barbary Coast Dixieland Show Band and as a calliopist/pianist for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company’s Mississippi River fleet.

In May, Bobby won his second consecutive senior division title at the World Championship Old Time Piano Playing Contest in Oxford, Mississippi. Bobby was born in Philadelphia, raised in Ohio and now lives in Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle.

This 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. performance at The Grill at 1951 is open to CCJS members and guests with all tickets sold in advance. Reservations must be made by Thursday, September 22. They can be obtained with a $10.00 check per ticket payable to CCJS and mailed to CCJS, PO Box 495321, Port Charlotte FL 33949. Reserved tickets will be held in your names at The Grill at 1951 on the concert day, Thursday, September 29. Food and beverages will be available for lunch. Doors open at noon for ticket-holders.

One more matinee concert is scheduled this fall. Two are planned in February and March at The Grill @ 1951, thanks to the hospitality of owner Dave Eger.

Trumpeter and singer Bob Zottola’s Jazz Simpatico trio with pianist Stu Shelton and drummer Tim Ruger will perform on November 3.

The Grill at 1951 is a CCJS Community Partner.