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Farmland Jazz Band Celebrates the Holidays with "The Dude"

Courtesy/Farmland Jazz Band

If you're looking for an unexpected way to celebrate the holiday season, here's an idea: The Farmland Jazz Band is presenting two shows this week that combine New Orleans-style holiday standards with music from the classic Coen Brothers film, The Big Lebowski.

Credit Courtesy/Farmland Jazz Band
Farmland Jazz Band's founders, John and Ed Renz believe that any musical genre "with notes" can be translated into old-timey jazz.

You can call him His Dudeness, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing. But whatever you call him, there's no doubt that the character of "The Dude" and The Big Lebowski are staples of the cult film canon.

The 1998 movie -- and its music -- happen to be favorites of Fort Wayne's Farmland Jazz Band.

This week, they're celebrating the film and the holidays by mixing the movie's soundtrack with classic seasonal songs, all in their signature Dixieland style.

It might sound like a strange mixture. But band founders Ed and John Renz agree that their genre is perfect for the task.

"One of the things I like to do with Farmland, and you know, with jazz in general, is you take tunes that people know, and put them in a new life," Ed said.

His brother, John, agrees, adding that "old-timey jazz is kind of, in a lot of ways, the predecessor to modern pop music."

You can find out about both of this week's performances on the band's Facebook page.

Event Information:

@ JK O'Donnell's, Fort Wayne
Wednesday, December 17th, 2014
7:00pm to 10:00pm

@ The Brass Rail, Fort Wayne
Thursday, December 18th, 2014
8:30pm
 

A Fort Wayne native, Julia is a radio host, graphic artist, and community volunteer, who has contributed to NIPR both on- and off-air for forty years. Besides being WBOI's arts & culture reporter, she currently co-produces and hosts Folktales and Meet the Music.