Tonight we moseyed on down to Minden Park to catch the first of the Concerts in the Park summer series that the Carson Valley Inn is putting on. The music this time was provided by the John Jorgenson Quintet, a rolicking good “hot jazz” combo that reminded me a lot of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Three guitars, an upright bass, and a fiddle, playing swinging music that sounded like it came right out of the 30’s.

Minden Park, with a full crowd clustered around the gazebo.

They also played a couple of jazz standards, and a few French jazz songs. Luckily there were no words on those.

The John Jorgenson Quintet on stage. They even took the railing off to make the gazebo into a better venue.

In all they played two sets, about 45 minutes each. I overheard a couple of teenage girls talking about how good the music was, so for a bunch of old fogies playing a 70-year old set list, that’s the real seal of approval. Definitely a band to check out!

A lot of people turned out on a Friday night for the concert.

Folks brought their dogs...

...and more dogs...

...and even a talking bird!

The program for tonight’s presentation. Inside was one page about the band, and 14 pages of ads.

This Concerts in the Park series continues all summer, with four more shows to go:

• June 24th - Playa Papaya
• July 8th - Crazy Texas Gypsies
• July 29th - an old favorite of mine, Mumbo Gumbo!
• August 26th - Michael Powers Group

All shows are at 6:30pm. So if you ever find yourself in Minden on a Friday night, you know what to do!