A view of the Josh Duffee Orchestra performing June 30, 2001 at the Moline Community Center.

Josh Duffee Orchestra has rescheduled a special 20^th-anniversary concert salute to Gene Krupa (since it was rained out June 29), to the same location — Lincoln Park in Rock Island, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 27^th.

On June 30, 2001, the Josh Duffee Orchestra performed a Krupa tribute at the then-Moline Community Center on 5^th Avenue, less than two blocks away from where Bellson’s family operated a music store at 1711 5^th Ave. Then a 21-year-old Moline High graduate, Duffee intimately knew his way around a drum kit and worshipped both Gene Krupa (1909-1973) and Louie Bellson (1924-2009) – the latter a Moline alum who in 1941, at 17, won the Gene Krupa National Slingerland Drum Contest in New York City, out of whopping 40,000 drummers.

Now 20 years later, Duffee and his big band will celebrate that successful start with a free Krupa tribute concert in Lincoln Park, 1120 40^th St., Rock Island, as part of the Starlight Revue Concert Series.

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.