BELLE FOURCHE—The Wednesday evening Belle Fourche Arts Council 2026 Concert in the Park was moved out of the heat and into the cool and comfortable Episcopal Church Hall on July 15. The move was made for the comfort and safety of the musicians and the crowd due to the ongoing heat advisory.
The planned move made for a nice, comfortable atmosphere to enjoy the musical notes of Green Dolphin Jazz. This is the fourth week in the free concert series.
The jazz quartet is from the Northern Hills area. They filled the room with a seamless mix of straight-ahead jazz with a heavy emphasis on mainstream swing and traditional jazz. The band consists of Dr. Christopher Hahn on trumpet, Dr. Janeen Larsen playing piano, Gary Renner on bass guitar and Terry Rathbun on drums.
They played a variety of jazz favorites including “All of Me”—the classic tune is one of the most recorded jazz hits of all time, immortalized by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Dr. Hahn took time to introduce and explain the songs the group played. He did it with humor and knowledge and kept the jazz hour moving along. “Next is “Angel Eyes”—which Janeen likes to say—you know Frank Sinatra made that famous—but we kind of say that about every tune we play because he wrote or sang so many tunes over his long career… We do this one a little bit different than he did,” he explained.
The band’s stylistic range was on display with the performance of “Black Orpheus,” a Bossa Nova. “So Black Orpheus was a movie that has, I think, aged relatively well… It takes place during carnival down in in Rio de Janeiro, and the music that was written for it back in the 60s was really some of the earliest Bossa Nova music that we know, that became so popular in the U.S.,” shared Hahn.
The quartet’s setlist seamlessly bridged continents and eras and kept the crowd entertained.
The Belle Fourche United Church of Christ volunteers crafted ice cream sundaes to cool off the heated crowd for a free-will donation.
Summer is flying by! With the conclusion of this Wednesday performance, there are only two left in the series. Pack your lawn chair and head to Herrmann Park to enjoy live music under the South Dakota sky. On July 22, The Northern Hills Community Band will entertain beginning at 7 p.m. The concerts are free to the public. The final Concert in the Park will feature Belle Fourche High Drumline on July 29.
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