The Dubuque Upper Main Street Jazz Band was formed in 1987 by the late Dick Zimmer, a well-known area musician and music educator. The six to eight piece band has performed all over the Tri-state area, including: The Eagle Ridge Inn, The Dubuque Golf and Country Club, The DeSoto Hotel, The Prairie du Chien Boat Club, The Port of Dubuque, The University of Wisconsin-Platteville, The Dubuque Arts Council Artists in Residence, The Spirit of Dubuque paddle wheeler, The Midway Hotel, Bricktown Wagon Works, The Dubuque Inn, Dubuque Carnegie-Stout Public Library, The Hotel Julien, The Island Princess Riverboat, Diamond Jack's in Des Moines, The River's Edge Plaza,
The Dubuque Diamond Jo, Admiral's Hi-Hat West, The Music Clinic, Thunder Hills Country Club, The Holiday Inn-Five Flags, The Silver Eagle, Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino, Pelican Pier, Interstate Power Company, The Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Spielman's Supper Club, The Quad City Queen Riverboat, The Dubuque County Fairgrounds Ballroom, The Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Timberline Golf Club, The Cedar Rapids Shrine Center, Sunnycrest Manor, The Grand Opera House, Hills and Dales, Bally Clough Inn, Ecumenical Towers, Washington Square Gazebo, Fountain Park Events Center, The Mississippi Belle and Belle II Riverboats, The Rainbow Lounge, St. Luke's United Methodist Church's annual Mardi Gras Service, Clarke College, The University of Dubuque, The Dubuque Downtown Kiwanis Club, Hawkeye Bank of Dubuque, McGraw-Hill Publishing, The Wisconsin Funeral Directors' Association, The New Town Clock Main Street Stage, Woodbine Bend Championship Golf Course - Woodbine IL,
The Grand River Center, Duke's Place, Kendall Hunt-Westmark Corporation, Platinum Hospitality Group, Eagle Point Park, Cascade Chamber of Commerce, The America's River Museum, Sundown Ski Lodge, Sunset Hall in Dickeyville, WI., Kennedy Mall, Dubuque Elk's Lodge, The Day's Inn, Mercy Medical Center, Bell Tower Theater, LaCrosse Center-LaCrosse Wisconsin, Dubuque Farmers' Market, Dubuque Five Flags Center, Dubuque Shrine Club, Town Clock Plaza, Scott Duncan Films, NFL Films, Cascade City Park, Asbury Park, Waterloo, Iowa Masonic Center, Albrecht Acres, Northeast Iowa School of Music, DubuqueFest, RiverFest, the America's River Festival, the Dubuque Catfish Festival, The Grand Harbor Resort, Embassy Suites on the River in Des Moines, The Dubuque County Fair, and many events for the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation.
The band was recently featured in two documentary movies shot in Dubuque for the History Channel. The first, "My Father's Gun," aired in June, 2002. "Ship Ablaze - The General Slocum," aired in June, 2004.
The music is primarily pre-1940, and includes everything from Big Band to Swing to Polkas to Dixieland. The band's repertoire includes several hundred pieces. In most cases the band performs without sheet music, knowing only the title of the piece and the key it will be performed in. Upper Main Street utilizes several musicians, so the make up of the band varies slightly and allows some flexibility. Generally the core group is made up of Ric Jones, Drummer and Leader; Don Boal, Guitar; Don Dugan, Trumpet & Vocals; Brian Enabnit, Trombone & Vocals; David Resnick, Clarinet/Saxophones & Vocals; Chuck Crimmins, Electric Bass Guitar & Vocals; Megan Gloss, Vocals; and Chuck Bregman, Piano.
Altogether our musicians have more than 300 years of musical performance experience.