IU jazz musician tours Europe, releases new CD

She toured Europe over the summer and recently released a new CD, but jazz pianist Monika Herzig’s life isn’t all glamour.

As a professor, she still has assignments to give out, tests to grade and office hours to keep. Herzig said in addition to original music, she enjoys rearranging well-known songs with a jazzy element, changing things such as the meter and even the harmonies.

“I’m taking familiar things and pushing them in an unfamiliar vein, so it’s new and exciting,” she said.

Her new CD, “Peace on Earth,” was released in Indianapolis last month.
“I didn’t want to have just a regular Christmas CD,” Herzig said. “It’s all based around that peace ... the idea being that it’s not just for people celebrating Christmas, but it’s just the season.”

The Bloomington release parties will be this weekend at Jazz at the Station. The CD includes Herzig’s versions of holiday classics such as “Silent Night,” “O, Christmas Tree,” “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” and originals such as “Children Sleep Softly,” “Ballad for a Snowman” and “Give Peace Every Chance.”

Wandering Turtle Art Gallery & Gifts named Herzig its Artist of the Month for December and will feature her music – mainly “Peace on Earth” – in the store throughout the month.

“She’s a wonderful person, and she’s just a superb jazz musician,” said Wandering Turtle owner Jaime Sweany. “She’s really creative in her composing.”

In particular, Sweany noted the John Lennon/Yoko Ono song “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” which Herzig rearranged for the album.

“It’s a very interesting take on the song,” Sweany said.

While perhaps not her highest acclaim, Herzig said she appreciates the compliment.
“It’s nice to be acknowledged by them,” she said. “Instrumental music sometimes falls through the cracks.”

This summer, Herzig returned to her native Germany to do a concert in Tuebingen, and another in Frascati, Italy.

“It was great because it’s just a different atmosphere,” Herzig said, explaining that in Europe, people were quiet as she performed, a change from American club where artists often have to play over the audience’s chatter.

During her trip, Herzig kept a blog, which can be read at www.hoosierjazznews.com.
Herzig came to IU in 1991 to finish her doctorate and simply never left, she said.

She teaches in the Arts Administration program in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, which focuses on management for organizations and businesses such as art galleries and museums, theaters, film and television, dance companies, orchestras and symphonies, as well as individual artist representation.




CD release parties for ‘Peace on Earth’
When: 7 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Jazz at the Station, 825 N. Walnut St.
More info: The cover is $5. In Bloomington, “Peace on Earth” can be purchased at T.I.S. Music Shop, Landlocked Music, Athena, The Wandering Turtle Gallery & Gifts and Barnes & Noble. The CD is also sold online through the Owl Studios Web site at www.owlstudios.com/catalog/index.php.