Hitting all the right notes

Jazz has a home in Bloomington. Cast and constructed within one of the finest music schools in the nation, it branches out to numerous venues while offering students and residents alike its rhythmic sounds and intimate settings. With handcrafted blueprints penciled by not only locally, but nationally and internationally renowned musicians David Baker, Pat Harbison, Tom Walsh and Luke Gillespie, the IU jazz studies program houses music now available almost nightly around Bloomington. \nLike a revolving door, the IU music school has spun out, drawn in and encompassed the world of jazz performance within its academic realm, allowing the abundant overflow of musicians seeking local outlets for collaborations among their peers and professors.\nDavid Miller, an IU graduate, trumpeter and host of Jazz Fables at Bear's Place, has been involved in the Bloomington jazz community since he founded the series in 1989. \n"The jazz scene in Bloomington has a direct relationship with the jazz studies department and the efforts of David Baker," Miller said. "I don't think that Jazz Fables would be possible without the direct involvement of the jazz faculty and their influence of bringing in musicians from all over the world."\nAs a player in many combinations over the years, Miller hosts the Jazz Fables Series from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday evenings. He sets the stage and atmosphere for a night of cool jazz, sometimes doubling as a performer while subtly cueing for audience participation throughout. Miller formidably notes this dimly lit, smoke-free backroom of Bear's Place is the premiere venue in town to immerse oneself in the music; where few interruptions ensure the audience's attention on what they paid for -- jazz.\n"People are coming here to hear people play, as opposed to going to a restaurant or venue where jazz is heard in a lot of ways as background music," Miller said. "It's very clear in our situation that people are here to listen to jazz -- the expectations are there."\nWhile Jazz Fables may attract the more hardcore jazz listener, also note a 21-and-over establishment, this is merely the roof over the proverbial house of jazz constructed throughout Bloomington.\nA venture to Café D'Jango Friday and Saturday nights offers a jazz flavor for all ages; served with alcohol, a full menu and jazz on the side for only $3. Located on the corner of Sixth and Grant streets, this jazz-friendly establishment showcases musicians beginning at 9 p.m. as its opened walls secrete the flow of rhythmically altered jazz standards around its intimate setting. This quaint living room-like café caters to a night out with casual conversations abounding as it pits performers at eye level, tempting you to strike the high-hat yourself to add a personal note to the night.\nAs the week circles to a slow Sunday evening, jazz can be visited at Upland Brewery located at 11th and Morton streets. While the jazz bands Conspiracy Theory, featuring Pat Harbison, and Blue Taj headline the Sunday evening slot, Upland also brings in the jazz guitar talents of Cameron Mizell, who is performing next at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22, or can be caught at the aforementioned Café D'Jango at 9 p.m. Friday.\nMizell, a former jazz student in the music school, now opts for total concentration and immersion in his live performances. Mizell and his guitar assure venues around town of his ability to make an enjoyable evening for patrons -- thus adding to any dining atmosphere. \n"Upland offers a really good balance of background music but also stuff that people are reacting to," Mizell said. "People are clapping, everyone is responsive to the music but we, at the same time, weren't intruding on their meal."\nUpland's Tap Room -- what the establishment refers to as the all-encompassing dining, bar and performance area -- offers a multitude of locally brewed beverages, a full menu and a touch of jazz for all ages at no extra charge. \nAspiring jazz connoisseurs can also take in live concerts in true concert hall fashion at 8 p.m. Mondays as the Musical Arts Center features the MAC Jazz Series with complete jazz band accompaniments. Filling the stage are weekly revolving bands of music students lead by faculty members which have included Baker, Harbison and Joey Tartell. This week's series featured the Big Band Extravaganza directed by Baker and Harbison. Only one Monday is left this semester to witness this year's MAC performers. While offering the formal setting of live concert ensembles, this show also features solo performances from a variety of student members showcasing their talents in grandeur fashion for free.\nIn laying his own foundation around town, senior jazz performer Jeff Greene added Tuesday nights at Malibu Grill as the latest addition to the jazz commune. Throughout this semester, Greene has assembled a varying cast of fellow jazz musicians that inundate the Malibu clientele with fresh sounds while physically flooding their allotted window space along Walnut Street. Nestled within and breathed from the entryway's immediate attention, the jazz ambiance permeates throughout the non-smoking establishment and the of-age bar patrons while sidling behind the diverse dining crowd in the adjoining room. \nWhen listening to jazz, an entirely new and fascinating world emerges; you may attend one of the many performances available in Bloomington. As the Bloomington jazz community communicates on a musical plateau of jazz, what may appear as an elitist sect of highly-engaged listeners and performers, they are readily available and willing to purge their knowledge and interests to all inclined to learn. \nMaster student of jazz studies and frequent performer with Greene at Malibu Grill, Brad Whiteley, in conversation with local musician Steve Johnson, who plays the Malibu stage on its Thursday night of jazz, addresses the listeners approach to jazz music.\n"The best way to go into a jazz show is with an open mind and with attempts to listen to it on a different level than most music", Whiteley said.\nJohnson said as you initially become interested by listening to recorded jazz, the opportunity to see and hear good live jazz performances, like at Malibu, should be seized. \n"You have to be interested in finding out about jazz, and seeing it live provides those opportunities," Johnson said. "You really need to see it live, be open and experience it -- it can change the way you listen to music."\nMizell echoes the importance of getting out to the live shows, reminiscent of the North Texas crowds, where he attended school and performed before coming to IU, and their initiative to support the local jazz scene with earnest interest. The common misconception in the minds of those who do not know anything about jazz is just that, they don't know anything about jazz. Mizell stresses while jazz is certainly not a "passive music," as you cannot approach it like a venue that pumps covered top-40 and be engaged in the same way, jazz is a language. It's an unspoken line of communication between the musicians and the audience, and it is an active process requiring the listener's participation.\n"When you go and listen to live jazz, you don't know what's going to happen (as compared to) the nonoriginal fashion of going out and listening to covered music," Mizell said. "If you really go listen to it, and the jazz performers are good, jazz can do all kinds of things to you."\n-- Contact staff writer Doug Smith at doqsmith@indiana.edu.