Northbrook Days Festival is an annual event for the village north of Chicago. This year is special though, as it celebrates 100 years of the event.

The highlight for me was a performance by the Harry Patti Project. This was a mix of five musicians I have previously seen several times but never in this combination. It included Harry and Patti Reinhart (parents of Angie), Angie Reinhart and Luke Ray (of The Alright Maybes) and Jim Murray (of Skip Towne and the Greyhounds, along with Harry). The quintet entertained fans for two solid hours.

The beauty of such a combination is the variety of songs they played. Angie and Luke took center stage to play a few songs from The Alright Maybes. Having recently heard them as the opener for Angie’s sister, Haley, I am really getting into their music. Angie was equally great crooning an oldie like “Jolene” or putting her soul into original songs Luke and she wrote.

Patti and Harry had their time to shine, too. Patti delighted the crowd taking the lead on songs from the 1960s, while Harry showed his chops on a couple Beatles tunes, among others.

All the while, Jim provided the backbone on drums. He rose to the challenge of keeping the beat with such a diverse selection.

I also enjoy seeing how much fun they all had. It’s obvious they all love playing, especially with each other.

It was also interesting to see the wide range of ages in the crowd, from teenagers to seniors. By the end of their performance, much of them were on their feet dancing or clapping.

I really need to see The Alright Maybes do a full show. Until then, I will enjoy their CDs I picked up at Haley’s show.

© Photo courtesy of Jim Murray.

— John Wroblewski, online writer