photo courtesy Combo Westside
Only in Tucson does a holiday party mean kalimba-infused Christmas carols, traditional musical fare from Ireland and Appalachia and a 25-piece folk orchestra, complete with mandolins, violins, dulcimer and banjo players.
The Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association features all that and more when it returns with its annual holiday party at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22nd St, December 17.
Admission to the concert is a $10 donation, with discounts available, and another $7 for a plate of food. Proceeds go toward the association and its annual folk festival, which takes place downtown in May.
“The best musicians in Tucson come out for this event,” said Ron Pandy, a longtime local player and member of the attending String Bean Folk Orchestra, about the holiday gathering. Pandy has played and attended the holiday parties for more than two decades and has served as the contact and coordinator for the event for the last four years.
The schedule has yet to be finalized, he said, but it’s already brimming over with familiar Tucson faces.
Dave Firestine and Claire Jamieson Zucker, known best for their work with the traditional Celtic band, Round the House, will get toes tapping as the acoustic duo, Púca. Master kalimba player Mark Holdaway has a spot reserved for some thumb piano holiday tunes, and will also serve as musical accompaniment for the vocal group, WomanSong. Combo Westside will roll out its own brand of Bossa Nova groove music, but not before the folk orchestra presents a series of classic holiday melodies.
“Our hit song is that Chipmunk Christmas song,” Pandy said. “We do other, more complex classics, like ‘Joy to the World,’ but the Chipmunk song is always most popular because it is such a novelty.”
The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the music and dinner begin at 6 p.m. For more information, visit TKMA.org.
