A jazzy summer

Toes were tapping and heads were moving to the beat as five passionate musicians harmonized and improvised on some of the most well-known tunes of our time. On Friday, July 11, the Indianapolis Guitar Summit started off the Jazz in July summer concert series with an evening of fresh and dynamic jazz music. 

There wasn’t an empty seat left on the sculpture terrace of the IU Art Museum, but that didn’t stop the jazz connoisseurs from coming.

Bill Lancton, guitarist for Indianapolis Guitar Summit, led the group as they played music by such artists as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and The Beatles. Friday’s performance was especially meaningful because it was a tribute to the late Charlie Smith. Smith had been a member of the Indianapolis Guitar Summit and also led the Charlie Smith Project during his first years as a professional musician.

The Indianapolis Guitar Summit was proud to be able to showcase, for the very first time, Noah Blades. Blades, a lifelong student of Charlie Smith, who passed away four months ago, had been Smith’s student since the tender age of 12.

“This group doesn’t practice together. As long as someone knows the melody, the rest is all improvisational,” Blades said, locking the metal clasps on his guitar case.
Blades, as well as Sandy Williams, Dave Murray, Kenny Phelps and Bill Lancton, left the audience thrilled.

The Jazz in July summer concert series is a free, annual event that IU has hosted for 18 years. The concert series is made up of four consecutive Friday performances.  Because the Fourth of July fell on a Friday, the last concert will be held on Friday, August 1. All ages are invited to attend the concerts held at 6:30 p.m. on the sculpture terrace of the IU Art Museum.

The Indianapolis Guitar Summit was the first group to perform, but yet to come will be the jazz voice and violin duo, sisters Rachel and Sara Caswell, performing on July 18.  On July 25, the Bill Lancton Quartet, a Latin and funk jazz group will be in Bloomington. The concert series will wrap up with the group Bleu Django that plays acoustic swing music characterized by its Django Reinhardt style.

Dexter Gormeley, a recently retired Bloomington resident, worked on the IU staff for over 40 years.

“(My wife and I) have been coming to these shows since they first started, years ago,” Gormeley said.

Gormeley and his wife Mary Jane are also especially excited for the second performance on July 18, which will feature Sara and Rachel Caswell.

“The Caswells, we’ve known them since they were in elementary school.  They took classes with our kids,” Gormeley said.

The Caswell sisters have been appearing at the Jazz in July concert series, every other year since 2000. Rachel, a jazz vocalist, and Sara, a jazz violinist, completed their undergraduate degrees with IU’s Jacobs School of Music and then received their masters’ through the New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. They’ve worked with such acts as Charlie Byrd, Ingrid Jensen and Glenn Miller.  This year’s show is going to be full of new and old tunes.

“The audience should expect a wide variety of material in the jazz style from standards of the American songbook to contemporary jazz and originals,” Rachel Caswell said.
Joining the Caswell Sisters will be Berklee School of Music graduate and pianist Mark Shilansky, bassist Jeremy Allen and Dave Scalia on the drums.

 “We always look forward to this show and see it as a great opportunity for us to reach people that may not be so familiar with our work," Rachel Caswell said. “Jazz in July has a strong built-in audience and is also a great chance for people who are under 21 (younger college students or families with children) to hear us in a fairly relaxed and beautiful setting for free.”

And that’s just what happened with Charnette Batey an incoming IU freshman who stumbled upon the Jazz in July series while at the IU Art Museum with a group of friends. They all said they love jazz but didn’t always have the opportunity to hear it performed live.  When asked if they attend many concerts, Batey replied, “Of course! When they're free!”