An Iowa City band, Shade of Blue, will be providing cool cats with the sounds of funk, blues, gospel and all that jazz when it makes its Ames debut at the Memorial Union Terrace tonight.

Cyclone jazz junkies who have been itching for some freestyle improvisation will find some pleasure in this band. The mix of styles the members of Shade of Blue bring to their music is as diverse as the band itself.

“A lot of people ask about how half the band is white and half the band is black,” said Dave Rosazza, guitarist and vocalist. “We never thought of that. We just got together.”

Rosazza said he and bassist Kenny Fullard, a former Iowa basketball player, have roots in blues. Vocalists Simone Green and Joan Ruffin bring their gospel influences, and Denis Stacer on drums and Saul Lubaroff on the saxophone bring jazz.

The story behind this mix of improv styles begins in 1990 when Rosazza founded Shade of Blue as a three piece. The band played the Iowa City bar scene, bringing blues back to the town.

A saxophone brought a jazzier feel in 1991 when Lubaroff joined, but when Green and Ruffin came aboard in February 1995, it changed the band forever.

“They’re very powerful figures and voices people don’t get to hear a lot, especially around Iowa,” Rosazza said.

Rosazza and Fullard met Green and Ruffin while singing for the University of Iowa’s gospel choir, Voices of Soul. All four are still members of the choir.

Green and Ruffin go together like peanut butter and jelly. “We just kind of think on the same plane and say the same things at the same time,” Green said. “We just click, like family, so to speak.” This close-knit family atmosphere creates great vocal and musical interplay.

Rosazza said, “We just kind of say, ‘You take it for awhile,’ and go from there to wherever our songs end up.” This keeps their impromptu blues style fresh. “We rarely play the same song the same way twice,” he added.

Although they may have roots in blues, Rosazza said they are not strictly a blues band. “A lot of people think blues means sad, but it doesn’t,” he explained. “We do maybe three or four songs a night that are straight blues.”

The band released its second album, Free Your Mind, on Iowa City’s own Craven Maven Recordings label in September of 1995. The album is mostly originals with a few covers like “Papa was a Rolling Stone” and “I’ll Take You There,” but look for two of the band’s best jazzy blues tunes: “Phone Tag Blues” and “Lookin’ for Somethin’.”

Shade of Blue is also able to sing about tragedies in the world today, such as kids on drugs.

“We address some of the issues that are facing people in society today, but we also stay on the lighter side as well. We don’t get into politics, though. We don’t want to shove anything down somebody’s throat,” Rosazza said. “We just want to have fun doing what we like to do.”

And having fun is what these guys have been doing for six years. Now for the first time, they bring the good times to Ames during Veishea week. “Veishea’s a blast. We’ve been looking forward to this for a month and a half,” he said.

Green said listeners can also expect to hear tunes like “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Stormy Monday,” along with music by Aretha Franklin, Prince, Zhane and Wilson Pickett. “If you like dancing and grooving, Shade of Blue is definitely a band you don’t want to miss,” Green said.

Cool cats can find Shade of Blue on the terrace from 7 to 10 p.m. The cost is $2. If the sky starts crying, the show will be held in the Maintenance Shop.