Huge show alert!!! We’re very excited to announce on Friday, September 4th, jazz artist Sam Ross is starting up a swing dance night at Jilly’s Music Room! This is the debut of the Akron-version of a monthly series he started when he lived in Iowa. We’re so happy he’s bringing it a little farther east!

Featuring a live jazz band and a professional dance instructor, this show features classic songs from the swing era of the 1920s to the 1950s. These have traditionally been very high energy shows with most of the audience dancing the whole night.

Joining Sam in the band are Jonas Kupchella @keys.and.stuff Oscar Lacombe @ojlacombemusic and Holbrook Riles @hr3drumz, and leading the dance lesson is famed regional professional dance instructor Rachel Itsell.

THEN

Ever since the release of the movie Purple Rain in 1984, DaVaughn Weber, 3 years old at the time became a humble fan of the one and only Prince. His father Doyle Weber Jr who’s also a musician, took him to see the film numerous times, and the more DaVaughn saw the film he quickly noticed the resemblance of the late star and his father. When DaVaughn’s parents split apart he remained with his mother.  Without his father in the home, DaVaughn stated ” Prince reminded me so much of my father that after he left, whenever I saw Prince on T.V or in a magazine, it was like seeing my father again. It became easy for me to follow Prince’s career, and I loved every minute of it”. I’ve always paid close attention to him, how he walked, talked and especially his mannerisms”. Growing into a teen DaVaughn started to notice his likeness to the purple one.  Ever since he was a kid, people always told him how much he looked like Prince.  He began to see it around at 13.  Years later in 2015, DaVaughn decided to dress as Prince for Halloween, it was then he realized that there was something special. He won 1st place at every Prince lookalike contest he attended and started to make special appearances throughout the country.

NOW 

“I never knew anything about tribute shows until 2012.  I’ve seen Elvis’s impersonators before but never knew of any actual live tribute performances. I’ve always wanted to do just that but didn’t know how to get started or who to talk to. After my photos floated around on social media for a while, I received requests to be the front man for tribute shows. I enjoyed the experience, rehearsing and touring, however it just wasn’t my vision of what I had in mind. During the pandemic, I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do. So, in 2021 I teamed up with some very talented musicians who understood my vision and have dedicated themselves to this project” Uptown Prince Tribute.