By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

Chase Garrett’s Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp

Chase Garrett, a fixture tearing up the keys on the public pianos on Iowa City's Ped Mall, is staging his second Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp on Nov. 4, 2011, at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City. (Cliff Jette/Sourcemedia Group News)

Friday, Nov. 4, 2011

Iowa City’s piano man is lacing up his boogie shoes and heading indoors with his second Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp. A fixture tearing up the outdoor keyboards on the Ped Mall, pied piper Chase Garrett is hoping to lead listeners to the Englert to discover the joys of “speed blues” with a dancin’ beat. He’s bringing along three friends to help him get the joint jumpin’: Mark Braun of Ann Arbor, Mich., Carl Sonny Leyland of Great Britain and Fabrice Eulry of Paris. Using two grand pianos and a full rhythm section, they’ll turn back time to the 1930s and ’40s, when boogie was swinging through the dance halls. So climb aboard and head back to the musical future.

Chase Garrett’s Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp: 8 p.m. Friday (11/4/11), Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; $20 general admission, Englert Box Office, (319) 688-2653 or www.englert.org

Costaki Economopolos

Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 9 and 10, 2011

The man with “the longest name in comedy” wrote his master’s thesis on “the influence of political satire on our feelings about government.” He should have plenty to talk about when he swings through Eastern Iowa, landing in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids. Not one to mince words, he makes his pointed points of view via “The Economonologue” on “The Bob & Tom Show.”

Comedian Costaki Economopolos

He’s also packed a punch line on late-night talk shows and his words have come out of the Divine Miss M’s mouth on her “Kiss My Brass” tour. Opa!

Costaki Economopolos

Dubuque: 8 p.m. Wednesday (11/9/11), Mississippi Moon Bar, Diamond Jo Casino, 301 Bell St., Dubuque; $10 to $15 ages 21 and over; (563) 690-4758; http://dubuquetickets.diamondjo.com

Cedar Rapids: 7:30 p.m. Thursday (11/10), Penguins Comedy Club/Cedar Rapids Piano Lounge, 208 Second Ave. SE; $12.50 ages 21 and over, (319) 362-8133 or http://penguinscomedyclub.com

Cedar Rapids Community Concerts: John Jorgenson Quintet

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011

John Jorgensen (Lotos Nile photo)

Gypsy jazz master John Jorgenson will bring his guitar and his quintet to the beautiful new concert hall at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids. The Grammy winner’s strings will shimmer in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris. He even played Reinhardt in the feature film “Head in the Clouds,” starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz. Ooh-la-la. He keeps good company. Jorgenson spent six years with Elton John’s band and has performed with Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs and Brad Paisley. He’s also a founding member of the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters.

Cedar Rapids Community Concerts: John Jorgenson Quintet: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (11/5/11), Concert Hall at College Community, 401 76th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids; $20 single-show ticket 15 minutes before curtain or by season ticket; (319) 540-2301 or www.crcommunityconcerts.org