Bloomington jazz group \nfeatured in concert tonight\nLocal experimental jazz ensemble, The Saxophone Cartel, will perform at 7 p.m. tonight at the Ford-Crawford Hall in the School of Music. \n"The Saxophone Cartel is an exciting new saxophone sextet that explores the boundaries of the saxophone repertoire, which range from completely composed classical pieces to imaginatively arranged jazz compositions to almost completely improvised pieces which utilize all the members of the saxophone family, including the rarely heard bass saxophone," said Jazz Fables leader David Miller. "The group's extraordinary and entertaining music goes well beyond strictly classical or jazz boundaries, and the Sax Cartel performs with both precision and colorful and joyous verve, rivaled in the U.S. perhaps only by the World Saxophone Quartet and the ROVA Sax Quartet."\nThe group's repertoire is a balanced mixture of jazz and bebop combined with fresh ideas. The group uses jazz standards as a point of departure, but also plays original compositions composed by the players themselves or by other composers.\nThe show is free. For more information, visit www.saxophonecartel.web1000.com.
Matrix to present latest in open mic series at Soma \nAspiring poets are invited to participate in an open mic poetry reading at 7:30 Wednesday at Soma Coffee House, 322 E. Kirkwood Ave. Matrix, which sponsors the poetry readings, is a literary and visual arts organization that has provided consistent public forums for literary and visual artists in Bloomington, according to its Web site, www.matrixmag.com. For more information, contact Joseph Kerschbaum at 333-6821 or info@matrixmag.com.
