The parents of students at Miles Exploratory Learning Center have a long tradition of hosting concerts to benefit the school's music and art programs.
Howe Gelb has taken part in at least the last five, including last year's sold out event at The Loft Cinema in which Gelb and his Melted Wires played before the screening of "'Sno Angel Winging It," a documentary on Gelb's collaboration with the Voices of Praise gospel choir from Ottawa.
On Saturday Gelb will take the Rialto Theatre stage for Music Matters!, leading a lineup of musical friends that include Victoria Williams, Jacob Valenzuela and John Convertino of Calexico, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, and Thoger Lund of Gelb's band, Giant Sand.
This benefit is an all-ages show that's organized by the Miles parents and the Educational Enrichment Foundation, which is the nonprofit that helps Tucson Unified School District students and teachers.
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"This is the first time he's really opened it up to a community-wide benefit," said Lissa Gibbs, the foundation's executive director.
Organizers are hoping it will be the first of many.
The extra funding they hope to raise is particularly important because of state budget cuts to education, Gibbs said. It also will replace instruments stolen from the school last summer.
Any excess money from the benefit will go to the foundation's classroom grants program, which helps pay for things like field trips and visiting artists. It will also help support interscholastic scholarships for financially in-need students who want to take part in programs such as chorus and band.
Miles, 1400 E. Broadway, serves about 300 students.
"Miles has a long tradition of offering really memorable, authentic experiential learning, from as early as 1970, and music and the arts are a big part of that," Gibbs said.
Gelb, Lund, Convertino and Valenzuela, when playing together, are known as Melted Wires.
Williams has Tucson connections that go back years. She's probably best known for writing "Crazy Mary," which was covered by Pearl Jam. She might remind you, at least a bit, of Neil Young.
Dan Sorenson
If you go
• What: Music Matters!, Howe Gelb and friends in concert to benefit the music and arts programs of Miles Exploratory Learning Center and the Educational Enrichment Foundation.
• When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
• Tickets are $21, $13 for children under 13 years old. Rialto Theatre box office, or rialtotheatre.com
