Baker's jazz ensemble pleases crowd

Director David Baker and his jazz ensemble opened with its first concert of the 2002-03 season to a crowd of over 200 Monday night at the Musical Arts Center. The event was free and open to the public.\nA noticeable number of the jazz lovers in the audience were today's senior citizens who danced to jazz when it first became widespread the way they did to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey of the swing era. But the main crowd appeared to be IU students out to enjoy a free evening's entertainment.\nThe personnel strolled too slowly onto the stage just after 8 p.m. with their equipment set up just in front of a beautiful royal purple grand drape. They were applauded for demonstrating to the audience that they could indeed walk 50 feet without tripping. But future applause during the evening was well deserved by these musicians.\nThe concert featured a set list of ten numbers, and all the tunes were pleasing to my tone-deaf, but selective ear.\nThe most memorable tune was the second of the evening, and was called "The Joy of Cookin," written by Sammy Nestico. On this number Benjamin Cord wielded his trumpet with smooth and clean transitions and yielded a great deal of applause from an appreciative audience.\nAlso noticed during this number, and throughout the rest of the show was ivory tickler Paul Johnson whose notes laid an excellent undertone to all of the night's music.\nDirector David Baker has a stage presence equally stylized to the "let your hair down style" that jazz gives off. He was a treat to watch. When he wasn't facing his musicians tapping and sliding his feet, his fingers snapping out the beat, he was stage left with a profile to the audience gawking at his players and enjoying the sounds of his labor.\nAnd enjoy the sounds he should, for they were soothing and casual and everything jazz should be.\nAnother number whose notes were noticed were two movements from David Baker's own work "The Celebration Suite" written for the IU Law School centennial. One movement called "A Crystal Tear" was first to be played and the audience saw Karl Liechty on the Alto Sax with Wes Wagner on the guitar. The next movement of the suite is called "Jam Session" and featured Liechty and Wagner a second time.