Back Stage Jazz

Join Prairie Players Civic Theatre on the back patio the last Friday of the month May-August for Backstage Jazz, a summer concert series. There will be plenty of food, fun and music. All you need to bring is a lawn chair. There is a $5 cover charge. We will have food and drink on hand too to make your evening complete. The series is sponsored by First Midwest Bank.

Our first concert will feature the Derel Monteith Trio and Smoking Willie’s BBQ, the concert is sponsored by Cooks and Company.

Derel was a competing classical pianist throughout his childhood and developed an affinity for modern improvised music in high school, particularly the solo piano recordings of Keith Jarrett and the electric jazz-rock of Miles Davis. Derel went on to study classic acoustic jazz while earning a degree in jazz piano from the University of Miami, where he also studied audio engineering and jazz composition and began writing, playing and recording his own work.

In the 25 years since he graduated from UM, Derel has led multiple ensembles focusing on his original compositions and has been an active sideman, particularly in North Carolina and Illinois. Among others, he has accompanied Nnenna Freelon, Frank Foster, Vanessa Rubin and the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and has studied with the Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider as well as Ron Miller, Vince Maggio, Jim McNeely and Frank Kimbrough.

In 2015, Derel formed the Derel Monteith Trio, which has built a following through regular performances at music rooms and colleges. He is releasing his first trio and solo albums in 2019.