Opening night of the Ripon Arts League season on Tuesday, Sept. 8, takes the audience back to the sizzling Swing era bands of the 1930s and 40s.
Award-winning Colorado band, After Midnight, kicks the season off with the rhythm and sounds of the Clarinet Swing Kings, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, as well as other swing "royalty" —Lionel Hampton — King of Vibes; Nat "King" Cole; and a swoon-worthy young singer of the day, known as Frank Sinatra.
Under the direction of clarinetist, Roger Campbell, After Midnight performs with clarinet, piano, guitar, drums, bass, vibraphone, and vocals in a program interlaced by stories of the bandleaders and their sparks of genius: Artie Shaw changing popular music history, for instance, with his sweeping, B-side recording of an obscure Cole Porter tune," Begin the Beguine.
Other concerts in the series are:
*Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026: Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands featuring Bluegrass.
*Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026: Butter Quartet offering Italian and Haydn chamber music on gut-stringed instruments.
*Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2027: Kimmi Bitter and The Westside Twang playing Countrypolitan with 60s surf.
*Thursday, March 4, 2027: Forever Simon & Garfunkel, a tribute offering 60s and 70s classics
Now in its 34th year, Ripon Arts League concerts draw from Ripon, Manteca, Escalon, Modesto, and beyond.
All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Multi Use Building, across from Ripon High School at on 301 N. Acacia Ave. in Ripon.
Membership starts at $60 per adult and $10 per student for the entire 5-show series.
Shows are sold as a season, not individually. Seating is general admission, with complimentary coffee and cookies at intermission.
Visit RiponArts.org for membership information.
Each show this season touches on the "hot ticket" music of a particular time.
The October concert features Bluegrass trailblazer, Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands, playing songs from her recent album O California! and her 40+ year catalogue.
In November, the unique Butter Quartet from The Netherlands performs the popular chamber music of Italian composers and Haydn on gut-stringed instruments, as touring European musicians did in the late 18th century.
The two 2027 concerts are more modern.
January's concert introduces the "Countrypolitan" sound of Kimmi Bitter and The Westside Twang. Awarded Best Country/ Americana Artist by the 2026 San Diego Music Awards, Kimmi Bitter is "apple pie, whiskey, and thigh-high boots... [with] a level of realness that hits you right in the heart...charging toward greatness with no brakes" per the San Diego Troubadour.
She blends classic country with 60s surf music in a style all of her own.
The season finale is a 60s-70s throwback. New York City's Sean Altman and Jack Skuller (The Everly Set tour, 2022) return with Forever Simon and Garfunkel, a rockin' tribute to the iconic duo whose music shaped a generation.
