Sweet Sheiks

press release: The Madison Jazz Society will close the spring portion of their year-long celebration of its 35th anniversary with a concert on Sunday, April 28, presenting a Milwaukee based band that is taking the jazz world by storm.  It will be held from 1-4 p.m. at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 2969 Cahill Main, Fitchburg.

MJS President Linda Marty Schmitz said, “The young musicians who make up the Sweet Sheiks will perform for the first time on our stage on April 28.  Some of our members heard them at a Racine jazz festival and recommended we hire them.”

Bringing a little bit of the Big Easy to the Brew City, Sweet Sheiks is a Milwaukee based band, formed in 2016, inspired by music of the teens, twenties and thirties. With a mix of early jazz, vintage pop tunes, delta blues and originals, they shake the dust off the classic jazz they present and work to preserve.

Resonator guitar, banjitar (another name for a banjo guitar; it has 6 strings and is played like a guitar, but has the body and sound of a banjo), tuba, violin, trombone, clarinet, washboard and musical saw are instruments the audience may see played by these musicians.

This lineup brings a modern flair to early jazz, blues and Americana classics.  The band’s acoustic stylings are compelling, diverting and best summed up in two words, “refreshingly vintage."

Tickets for the concert are $20 for MJS members; $25 for non-members and those age 18 and younger will be admitted free.  Doors open at noon. Details can be found at

www.madisonjazz.com or by calling 608-850-5400.

Formed in 1984, the Madison Jazz Society is a non-profit, all volunteer organization formed to encourage the performance of and education about jazz.  It annually sponsors six concerts that attract jazz fans from all over the Midwest. It has also has a school grant program that awards grants to Wisconsin schools to enhance their jazz education programs and a jazz school residency program.