NILES — The final Summer Concerts in the Park series will take place today with a performance by Carol and Kaye’s Dixieland Jazz Band.

The band will play at 6 p.m. at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater. The performance is free and open to the public. People are invited to bring their lawn chairs and blankets out to listen to the concert. 

Throughout the summer, bands across the Michiana area have visited Riverfront Park to perform for the series, reviving a longtime Niles tradition that had been absent for several years. Each event also sought to raise money and awareness for local nonprofits. This week’s concert will benefit the Therapeutic Equestrian Center. The nonprofit helps people with special needs connect with animals and grow self-confidence.

Trumpet player and booking agent Carol Stelter, of South Bend, said the band is looking forward to the concert.

“It’s always a great venue,” Stelter said. “The audience is always receptive. It is a great place to play.”

Those who attend the concert will hear a variety of Dixieland music, a genre that Stelter said was born in New Orleans. The music has influences of Creole and jazz. She described it as typically lively and happy music. The audience will hear Dixieland favorites like “When My Sugar Walks Down the Street” and “Five Foot Two.”

Carol and Kaye’s Dixieland Band first started as a masonic band in the 1970s. It has seen a variety of musicians and different names over the years and drew inspiration from musicians like Louis Armstrong, Bix and Al Hirt. Carol said she was influenced to join by Kaye Rowe, who she said was “phenomenal musician” on the clarinet and saxophone. Though Kaye has since passed away, Stelter said the band pays homage to her by using her name in its title.

Stelter said through the band, she sees an opportunity to keep Dixieland music alive.

“We wanted to keep playing Dixieland and keep the community going with it,” Stelter said. “We just love to do it. We love to get together and play. I don’t think a good tune ever goes away.”

The band is comprised of seven musicians and those who attend Thursday will hear tenor sax, trombone, trumpet, guitar, clarinet, drums and tuba.

Stelter encouraged people to visit the concert and listen for themselves.

“It will be enjoyable,” Stelter said. “It is happy music. It is not music you hear every day. We play the Top 10, but I did not say what year.”