I purposely arrived a half hour after the marketed starting time, because, after all, it was jazz, but still there were no musicians to be seen. I had been outfoxed, so I went to plan B, head for the Dairy Queen across the street. On the way I saw a young man, who turned out to be the group’s leader, Alejandro Salazar, unloading a drum set from his car – a clue!

Upon direct examination, he allowed that they were getting a late start because they were coming from another gig. But they made up for that by leaving early, playing for a little over an hour, rather than their usual two and a half hours, as they also were playing later at Andy’s Jazz Club as the oh-so-cleverly-named The Quartet.

While at the park, they had a guest vocalist, John Dokes, who will be featured at Winter’s Jazz Club next Thursday night, drop by to sing two songs, including the mandatory Nature Boy.

These weren’t your typical DePaul music students, or maybe they were. In a couple weeks they’re bringing along another dozen friends for a big band night at the park. Based on tonight’s excellent performance, I plan to get there either early or late.