Roots on the Square showcases live jazz music

Jazz tunes drifted through the walls of Roots on the Square as saxophone player and self-described frustrated vocalist Nate Johnson performed with pianist Jeff Isaacs on Saturday.

Isaacs bounced to the music while Johnson tapped his foot against the wooden stage just large enough to hold the duo and their instruments.

Finishing a cover of Ray Charles’ “Georgia on my Mind,” Johnson and Isaacs were met with a smattering of applause.

“Thank you, thank you,” Johnson said, standing with his arms toward an audience of about 20 listeners.

Roots began offering live music a couple years ago but stopped when the restaurant’s resident musician left to pursue other opportunities, Roots owner Andrew Stevens said.

But with the opening of competing vegetarian restaurant The Owlery earlier this year, Stevens decided to start it back up and try something different.

Changing it up meant offering free live jazz, bluegrass, acoustic or Americana music every Friday and Saturday.

“While Bloomington does have a vibrant music scene, it doesn’t necessarily tap into that much,” Stevens said about the music genres Roots will showcase.

For years, Bear’s Place on East Third Street was the only place for jazz music, Stevens said. And when Tutte Bene opened on South Rogers Street, he was excited that another place would offer it.

“I was really enthused to see jazz again in Bloomington,” Stevens said.

Unfortunately, Tutte Bene closed in 2009, leaving Bloomington again with a jazz space to fill.  

“I felt like there was a lot of potential for doing what these other people had been doing at other places,” Stevens said.

Now, Stevens said he feels Roots is in a good position to fill that space since the restaurant is located between Kirkwood Avenue and the north side bars.

Roots currently offers live music every weekend from 7 to 9 p.m., and Stevens said he is branching more into late night music that will take place from 9 p.m. to midnight.

“Right now, I expect to keep this going pretty much year-round,” he said.

Playing at Roots instead of in a bar or other venue is more intimate, Johnson said. It’s almost like chamber music.

“The stage is very small,” he said. “There’s only room for two musicians. We just do duets here.”

Narrowing down the number of musicians offers Johnson the ability to play the same songs he would play with a larger ensemble a different way.

“We might play the same songs, but the interpretation of the song is informed by the musicians performing,” Johnson said.

Stevens said he played in jazz band with Johnson in high school and knew Johnson would agree to perform at Roots if asked.

“I think he’s a really phenomenal sax player, one of the best in town,” Stevens said. “He inspires me to dust off my sax and take out my clarinet again.”

At a table in the middle of the restaurant, David Clemmer chatted with a friend. But both stopped talking when “Mo Betta Blues” starts to play.

“He plays that for me,” John Johnson said, sitting next to Clemmer. “That’s my son.”

“What’s it caled?” Clemmer asked.

“Mo Betta Blues,” John replied.

“This is awfully friendly, upbeat blues,” Clemmer said.

A professor in the IU Chemistry Department, Clemmer said he thinks both Johnson and Isaacs are brilliant musicians and told the story of when he argued with Isaacs over who to hire as the next College of Arts and Sciences dean.

At the time, the human genome had just been discovered, and Clemmer, a chemist, insisted the new dean should know the importance of the recent discovery.

“He said the human genome isn’t important,” Clemmer said. “The song ‘Blue Train’ by John Coltrane is more important than the human genome.”