Sunday, June 13, 2027 2:00 – 3:00 pm
The Crooked River Stompers: American Roots Music
Wadsworth Public Library, 132 Broad Street, Wadsworth, OH 44281
The Crooked River Stompers is the latest collaboration of Jack DiAlesandro and John Reynolds. For nearly 50 years these two musicians have played traditional music together covering a wide range of styles, including acoustic blues and ragtime, Celtic music, old-time tunes, Medicine show tunes, gypsy and swing jazz and original compositions.
This program is free. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 419-853-6016.
About the Musicians
JOHN REYNOLDS
John Reynolds’ first memory of music was singing ‘Davy Crockett’ with his mother, who
studied piano and organ at The Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory. He began playing
trombone in 5th grade and won the John Phillip Sousa Award as a senior in high school. In his early twenties he studied the guitar, violin and mandolin. John’s journey into traditional music began in the mid 1970’s in the Warren Ohio area playing with Gopher Broke, a western swing band. He met Jack DiAlesandro while attending Kent State University’s School of Music and began a life long friendship. At Kent State he studied music and then ethnomusicology as a graduate student. In 1983 and 1984 he directed the Kent State Folk Festival. John has served on the Ohio Arts Council and worked at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife and The National Folk Festivals as well as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was Director of both the Folklife Center at International House in Philadelphia and the Cultural Arts program for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park where for 9 years he produced the Cuyahoga Valley Folk Festival. John has performed at music festivals and concert venues throughout the country playing classical, baroque, blues, jazz, ragtime, and other folk styles. He has appeared with the Kent State University Sinfonia, Akron Baroque orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Hiram College Chamber String Ensemble as well as a number of regional bands.
JACK DIALESANDRO
Jack is co-founder and performs extensively with the Crooked River Stompers and its Quintet. A master guitarist, he also plays piano, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. He
has performed as a soloist throughout the United States and as an accompanist to many well
known folk artists, including Johnny Gimble, Jethro Burns, Kenny Baker and Josh Graves. Jack arranges ragtime guitar instrumentals from the piano scores of composers like Scott Joplin, Henry Lodge, George Bottsford, and also composes original ragtime pieces for the six string guitar. He has released three solo CDs and a number of other recordings in collaboration with various regional bands. Jack performs complex finger-pick ragtime and blues guitar styles like those of Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Blake, and many other styles of music including old swing jazz, Celtic music and folk.