So, some people are going to be in Des Moines this weekend, but if you’re staying around Iowa City, it won’t exactly be settling. The fine folks with Iowa Ctiy Summer of the Arts have gotten three of the biggest names in contemporary jazz for this year’s Iowa City Jazz Festival: Medeski, Martin & Wood, John Scofield, and the Joshua Redman Trio. For those uninitiated in living jazz artists, you don’t get much bigger. You have to look to the handful of dudes that played with Miles and still giggin’ (oh wait, Scofield was in Davis’ band from ‘82 - ‘85). And like always, the music is free.
John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Chris Wood, headline the first night of the festivitie (i.e. kick off your 4th of July Weekend with a bang). Medeski Martin & Wood have been straddling the line between jam band and jazz band for 16 years, and in many ways, it is that particular friction that keeps them exciting and popular. Loved by dead heads for long, funky jams (or “crunchy grooves”) and equally loved by the jazz set for their avant-garde leanings and incessant exploration, MMW have just enough funk in their trunk or the casual jazz fan and just enough moxy for the snobs.
Just when I thought I knew what to expect at a “noise show,” the fine folks performing at the Picador on Saturday night, threw me a 
Sunday night marks the end of an era. After seven years of aural attacks, Portland, OR noise duo 
Whew, don’t you just feel relieved? We now have our two presumptive nominees from the two major parties, and we can really get into the muck-racking and mud-slinging. But first, how about everyone takes a long deep breath this weekend. Get out and get some fresh air, get some culture. Thankfully, Iowa City is flush with that this weekend.
Do you have those devil horns ready? I’ve been workin’ mine out like mad, making sure that my index and pinkie fingers are strong and limber, ’cause I’ll be flashing that shit all night tonight.
We’ve already Freak Focused two of five acts hitting the Mill’s stage this evening, but apparently that’s not enough. Actually, look up at that headline, we haven’t said a whole lot about what else is going on, and it should be known that you’ll be getting considerably more than your $6 worth if you stop by the Mill this evening. For mp3’s and write-ups (those aforementioned Freak Foci) on Paleo and Old Time Relijun go 
You know that propulsion, that steady just-get-in-your-car-and-drive groove of Tom Waits’ “St. Christopher”? Well imagine your car has a bottomless tank. That’s a car under the influence of 
Oh man, do you hear that? It sounds like mayonnaise and cottage cheese being squeezed slowly out of a turkey baster. Oh wait, never mind - it’s just my brains slowly seeping out of my ears. This finals week appears to have been a particularly challenging one for your intrepid mission freakers. But it’s all over now, and we’re gearing up for a freakin’ awesome summer here in the IC. And like everyone and their mothers, we’re excited for the break from studies and snow, if the amount of “ink” this here show has already gotten on these here pages, is any indication.
Oh dude, is your head spinnin’ too? I’m having a really hard time with this. Okay, Film School, 
