Madison Marimba Quartet plus one

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D.Z. Kabler

Madison Marimba Quartet at the marimba.

Madison Marimba Quartet

The marimba has to be one of the most underrated instruments, sounding both jazzy and tropical and perfect for an evening in the park. Its wooden bars are super fun to hit and they sound good even when you don’t know what you’re doing (unlike, say, the violin). But these folks know what they are doing. Quartet founder Jim Latimer will be joined by Tim Gruber, Nancy Riesch-Flannery and J. Danielsen Latimer — plus a fifth marimba player, Greg Riss, who’s giving the elder Latimer a bit of a breather. The program includes “Ladyfingers Rag” by Madison trumpet player Judy White, newly scored for marimbas.

media release: By popular demand, the Madison Marimba Quartet will play a free concert in the park, Rennebohm Park, on Tuesday, June 18 at 6:30 in the evening. “We have been bombarded with requests about the next concert ever since playing in the park in 2023,” says founder Jim Latimer. “We play with purpose and passion.” People stop me in the grocery store and everywhere and ask about the marimba quartet playing. People appreciate hearing the marimba quartet because it is refreshing, easy listening, different and amazing to watch what four percussionists do with eight hands and eight or sixteen mallets. The concert is billed as OUR GIFT TO YOU; the musicians find this a way to give back to the community. But that is only some of it, remarks Latimer, and explains...

Eighty-Five-year-old trumpet player, former band director, and uniformed bugler for veterans funerals, Judy White of Madison, will see and hear one of her dreams come true. More than 40 years ago, she wrote a piece called Ladyfingers Rag because she had small hands. She said “I loved playing Joplin rags, but my hands were too small to play them well. So, I wrote this rag for we wee folks and called it Ladyfingers Rag, a classic rag for smaller hands.” Learning of this, a magic light came on. Latimer’s wife asked Judy if she would mind if her piece was scored for the Madison Marimba Quartet. Judy’s response was “Wowser, what an honor.” The rest is history. MMQ is excited to premiere the work at the June 18 concert. But there is something Judy does not know and that is that Madison arranger, Lori A. Taylor has scored Ladyfingers Rag for concert band. The Capitol City Band will premiere the work later this summer.

Members of the quartet are Tim Gruber from Madison, a retired music teacher; Nancy Riesch-Flannery from Middleton, retired band director and charter member of MMQ (1980) and J. Danielsen Latimer from Mineral Point WI who has played marimba from an early age.

THE June 18 concert will include a fifth marimba player, Greg Riss. Greg is from Madison by way of Lawrence University and his hometown of Oregon WI. He agreed to play this concert to give the elder Latimer a break and an opportunity to do a little more coaching with the group. Latimer says “at nearing ninety, I am beginning to step back a little, but the marimba is my passion. I continue to practice six days a week and will always be involved.”

This concert is sponsored by the Capitol City Band Association with funding in part from the Madison Arts Commission (with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board), and from the Zildjian Family Opportunity Fund at the Percussive Arts Society. Bring your friends, bring chairs, and enjoy an evening of familiar tunes of different genres. The concert is free and open to the public. For information, call 608 835-9861or visit Madison Marimba Quartet on Facebook.