Cafe Django features Shiner in jazz show

Mitch Shiner described himself as “very noisy” as a child.

Pots and pans in the kitchen were his first drum set.

When his grandparents returned from a trip to Africa in 2000, their gift to Shiner was his first real drum.

Shiner, a sophomore studying jazz percussion in the Jacobs School of Music, will perform as part of a sextet 8 p.m. tonight at Café Django, 116 N. Grant St.

The downtown Asian-Peruvian restaurant provides local jazz performers a venue to showcase their talents to a live crowd.

Shiner, a regular performer at Café Django, said he has much experience playing as part of an ensemble.

During summer 2011, he was invited to join the Disneyland All-American College Band in Anaheim, Calif. Now, he works with the local Post Modern Jazz Quartet and the Jeff Isaac Trio, as well as various jazz ensembles within the Jacobs School of Music.

Shiner said his particular interest in jazz music started when he discovered Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s first album, “Ugetsu.” The driving beat and incredible control he heard in the band’s arrangements had him hooked.

He now studies mallet percussion — more specifically, the vibraphone, an instrument similar to a xylophone with a grouping of organ pipes attached to its underside.

The instrument produces a vibrational tone when hit with percussion mallets and is sometimes referred to as “the vibes” in the percussionist community.

“Most of my performances are on a drum set and I am trying to hone my skills on the vibraphone,” Shiner said. “I am more comfortable behind the drum set, but in order to be a better musician I need to continually get out of my safe zone. The vibraphone does just that.”

Currently, Shiner listens to modern musician Joe Locke for inspiration and motivation.

Shiner said he likes the way Locke has expanded the role of the vibraphone in a modern musical setting.

“I admire musicians who push the limits of their instrument yet still maintain integrity of the art form,” he said.

For tonight’s performance, Shiner will play the vibraphone accompanied by five other local musicians — Joey Lamb on trumpet, Alex Young on tenor saxophone, John Weisiger on piano, Anna Butterss on bass and Ben Lumsdaine on drumset.

Shiner said the performance will include 10 of his own compositions along with some movie soundtrack classics and a standout rendition of “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s “Pocahontas.”

Shiner said he is excited to present the vibraphone to a new crowd because the instrument provides the possibility of unexpected melodic twists and turns.

“I love to share the moment of music-making with a crowd,” he said. “There’s a certain spontaneous energy that can be felt throughout the room when a band really gets cooking. I know that is what I thrive on as an audience member, so when I’m performing I try to create the same magic for others.”