Jazz Fables celebrates 12th anniversary of Bear's shows

It started out as a hodgepodge group of IU music students looking for a regular gig -- artists interested in performing acoustic modern jazz, gleaning support from the growing IU School of Music.\nAlmost 25 years later, the group known as Jazz Fables has grown older. The players have changed, and so has the repertoire. Some musicians have gone on to pursue professional careers, others have immersed themselves in shaping tomorrow's promising young students. Gone are the evenings of strictly contemporary standards; today, the band experiments with Latin and avant-garde jazz and caters to crowds young and old.\nBut tonight, the Bear's Place Thursday night regulars will take that familiar stage at 1316 E. Third St. with a guest: premier jazz musician and Indiana Historical Society Living Legend David Baker. Trumpet player and Fables founder David Miller first met Baker as an IU undergraduate sitting in on one of Baker's jazz history classes. In the late 1960s, Miller recruited a house band of graduate students in the School of Music and looked to Baker for support.\nIn years since then, that relationship has evolved from one of mentoring to a friendship based on mutual respect. \n"He is literally an incredible talent and multiple threat," Miller said. "He's a Renaissance man -- not only a cellist but certainly a composer of extraordinary capabilities and accomplished teacher." \nAt the time of Fables' conception, Miller was working for the Second Story Nightclub, booking various acts for jazz clubs throughout the region. He'd been playing with Jazz Fables since 1977, but the group had no permanent performing venue.\nBut upon the death of film series sponsor Steve Sears in 1989, a slot was left vacant in the weekly lineup at local eatery and bar Bear's Place. Miller approached then-owner Ray McConn with a request for weekly performances.\n"I just kind of said, 'Hey, you know who I am and what I'm able to do, and I'd like a chance to have a house gig here,'" Miller said. \nMcConn agreed, and Jazz Fables at Bear's was born, featuring Baker on its first concert. \nTonight's concert will feature Linda Baker on flute, Miller on trumpet, Tom Walsh on tenor sax, Luke Gillespie on piano, Jack Helsley on bass, Deno Sanders on drums, and Baker on cello. The concert marks the 12th anniversary of Jazz Fables at Bear's Place.\nThough initially established as a house band, the Fables format eventually expanded to have regularly featured guest artists. In 1992, then-regular players Gillespie and Harbison left the group to pursue post-graduate work in music pedagogy, forcing Miller to "try some other things" in manipulating group dynamics. The result was the evolution of Fables from a house gig to a concert series, with Miller regularly playing emcee.\nThe success of that adaptation resulted from collaborations between the group and prominent jazz musicians in Bloomington and surrounding areas, Miller said. Additionally, he was able to draw from a large pool of music students and Baker devotees willing to play in the weekly series. \n"A great part of the Fables series is that it allowed me to bring in students," Miller said. "If not for David Baker, Fables couldn't exist. We have a very strong tie with the jazz department because so many talented students come to IU solely because of Baker."\nAn Indianapolis native, Baker began performing in the big bands of Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones and Stan Kenton and in the George Russell Seminal Sextet in the 1940s and '50s. He began composing and arranging around that time, establishing a technique fellow faculty members now describe as "brilliant" and "captivatingly precise."\nMiller credits Baker with the bulk of the jazz department's success, citing his involvement in establishing a degree-granting program in Jazz Studies in the 1970s as evidence of his far-reaching influence. \n"Clearly, David's history at IU is monumental," Miller said. "He's certainly the preeminent person here in jazz."\nBaker's work in jazz methodology and instruction has earned international acclaim as well, including Down Beat magazine's lifetime achievement award.\n"His concepts on jazz education are extremely effective and important in terms of trying to give players the kind of materials needed to develop their technique," Miller said. "Jazz players really have to want to play the music very badly in the first place. The various courses and concepts David introduces exposes them to materials needed to develop the basic fundamentals of playing. The proof of his effectiveness is seen in the jazz players IU produces."\nIt's a testament to what Baker defines as his first love: teaching.\n"Of all the things I do, teaching is the centerpiece of my existence," Baker told the IDS this summer. "I enjoy working with people -- especially young people -- and this is so rewarding."\nMany of Baker's former students have established professional careers of renown upon graduation. Miller cited brothers Michael and Randy Brecker, pioneers in jazz rock, as two of the most prominent examples.\nFormer Fables players and Baker students have also gone on to careers of international renown, including Saturday Night Live drummer Shawn Pelton and saxophonist Jerry Welden, currently touring with Harry Connick Jr.'s big band.\nBaker has also earned considerable repute as a composer and arranger. Tonight's concert will feature numerous compositions written by Baker, including "Nostalgia for Fallen Heroes," a tribute to late jazz greats J.J. Johnson and Joe Henderson. The piece will feature pianist Gillespie, an alumnus currently completing a solo album. \nThe concert will also showcase Baker's more classic works, including "Some Links for Brother Ted," a tribute to another fallen friend, late guitarist Ted Dunbar. Baker's arrangements of jazz standards by such composers as Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Shaw will be featured as well, according to Michael Woodward, manager of Bear's Place.\nThe group is constantly on the lookout for new talent, according to Miller.\n"I see Fables as a venue situation and format allowing some of best rising jazz musicians in Bloomington the opportunity to play the great music small group repertoire," Miller said.\nAs a result, Miller has at his disposal a broad group of strong players from at the collegiate, local and regional levels, including Indianapolis, a hotbed of jazz activity in the 1940s and '50s.\n"At that time, Indy was literally the crossroads of America," Miller said. "Bandleaders would actually recruit musicians out of there." \nAmong those Indianapolis natives recruited were late trombonist J.J. Johnson and guitarist Wes Montgomery. Johnson catapulted to fame after being discovered in 1944 by the legendary Count Basie Orchestra.\nBaker will pay homage to his hometown in original composition "The Avenue," referring to former jazz center Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis. The piece derives much of its influence from the boogie-woogie piano of the 1930s and '40s, an era Miller believes definitive of the Indianapolis blues scene. \nThe ultimate goal of the series, Miller contends, lies in presenting an opportunity for both player and listener to come together in a context where the focus lies strictly on the music.\nAccording to Woodward, Jazz Fables concerts, especially those featuring Baker, consistently sell out.\nThe crowd, Woodward said, is diverse, composed of both older fans of Baker and younger music students, as well as a myriad of Bloomington residents. \n"People we bring in -- whether they're regional or professionals from New York CIty --constantly tell me how extraordinary it is that the audience really pays attention and listens," Miller said. "The music is not in the background -- it's a showcase."\nJazz Fables' 12th anniversary celebration featuring David Baker begins at 5:30 p.m. at Bear's Place, 1316 E. Third St. Cover is $7.