Atlantic City Weekly

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Jimmy Sturr

ATLANTIC CITY — Sure, like any good Oktoberfest there’ll be plenty of beer, bratwurst, Bavarian dancers and all the fun the world’s largest fall fair is associated with each year.

But unlike any other — including the one in Germany that started it all more than 200 years ago, and traditionally draws over five million people in a three-week stretch — Resorts Casino-Hotel’s inaugural Oktoberfest will boast the biggest name, Jimmy Sturr, in the most popular genre of Oktoberfest music on the planet, polka.

The 18-time Grammy-award winning Jimmy Sturr Orchestra will perform polka classics at Resorts’ Grand Ballroom over the two-day festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16, starting noon each day. The Sturr Orchestra is just part of a full day’s slate of entertainment, with sets tentatively scheduled for 3-4pm and 6-7pm Saturday, and 4:15-5:15pm Sunday. The entire music schedule is below.

Admission is free and open to the public both days. There will be a variety of vendors, authentic German beer and food, dancers performing in traditional native costumes from the Bavarian Mountains. Additionally, attendees will have a chance to win a free cruise for two with Jimmy Sturr and Bobby Rydell on their  “Rock ‘n’ Polka Cruise” in January 2012.

Along with the Sturr Orchestra, the New York City-based German-American band DSB Die Schlauberger will entertain with a distinctive Alpine Rock sound. Other performers will be the Philadelphia Brass Band, Walt Groller and his Orchestra, and the Adlers with Mike Killmer — all Oktoberfest favorites with repertoires of German-American beer-hall music and stylings.

Sturr (pictured right) may be internationally known, and is one of the most prolific Grammy-award winners of all time in any genre, but he also has local ties. Brigantine resident Joe Donofrio, who also manages Philadelphia jazz legend Pat Martino, produced four of the polka albums that netted Grammys, including Sturr’s 2008 album Let’s Polka ’Round.

“Polka’s a social genre,” Donofrio told Atlantic City Weekly following the 2008 Grammy nomination. “It’s social music, and what’s beautiful about it is that it makes people want to dance and have fun. As with any field there’s an education process, and the more you learn the more you grow. Nobody’s learned more about polka or performs it better than Jimmy Sturr and his orchestra.”

(See video, below)

Resorts Oktoberfest
Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16
At the Grand Ballroom (free admission both days)
Schedule:

Saturday, Oct. 15, noon-7pm
Noon-12:40pm — Philadelphia Brass Band
12:40-1pm —  HSV Bavarian Dancers
1-1:40pm —  Walt Groller Orchestra
1:40-2:10pm — HSV Bavarian Dancers
2:10-3pm — Walt Groller Orchestra
3-4pm— Jimmy Sturr Orchestra
4-4:40pm— Philadelphia Brass Band
4:40-5:10pm — HSV Bavarian Dancers
5:10-6pm — Walt Groller Orchestra
6-7pm — Jimmy Sturr Orchestra

October 16th Noon to 6PM
Noon-12:45pm — The Adlers With Mike Kilmer
12:45-1:10pm — HSV Bavarian Dancers
1:15-2pm — Jimmy Sturr Orchestra
2-3pm — Die Schlauberger
3-3:30pm — HSV Bavarian Dancers
3:30-4:15pm— The Adlers with Mike Kilmer
4:15-5:15pm — Jimmy Sturr Orchestra
5:15-6pm — Die Schlauberger