Chimes brings jingle bell jazz

This year’s jazz-infused Chimes of Christmas show lifted the spirits, or at least the hands, of audience members throughout the IU Auditorium last night. 

Featuring the Brent Wallarab Big Band, the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, guest performers and the Singing Hoosiers, this year’s show was colored by Singing Hoosiers Director Steve Zegree’s distinguishable flair. 

After the first two performances by the Singing Hoosiers, Zegree spoke to the crowd about a person he ran into out of pure happenstance ­— Pat Freeman.

Freeman happened to talk to Zegree about wanting to come to Chimes. Freeman had wanted to come for 40 years and tonight’s performance was his first. The crowd cheered as Zegree waved to him from the stage and dedicated the performance to him.

The lady Singing Hoosier captivated the audience with both their performance and elegant red dresses, which sparkled in the spotlight. The gentlemen Singing Hoosier also captivated the audience but with a different style. After the lady Hoosiers performed “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the gentlemen Hoosiers leapt onstage, embracing the Christmas spirit with shorts and Hawaiian shirts. Three of the gentlemen, however, didn’t get the memo and dressed in penguin suits.

The gentleman Hoosiers performed “Little Saint Nick,” challenging the lady Hoosiers to best them.

Throughout the concert, both the comedic and traditional qualities of the performances provided a festive welcome to the holiday season.

“Syncopation,” a performance group composed of children from all around Bloomington, performed with the Singing Hoosiers. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” resulted in a dance-off between the Hoosiers and Syncopation. The kids pumped up the crowd with their funky dance moves.

Embracing one of the most traditional animated Christmas shows of all time, Zegree whipped off his suit jacket, threw on a huge, yellow T-shirt with a black, squiggly line streaking across it and sat down at the piano. The audience responded enthusiastically to a performance of the the well-known “Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Two guest vocalists performed in the concert. Singing Hoosiers’ distinguished alumna Melissa Dickson performed “Sing Noel” with the Singing Hoosiers backing her up. Ly Wilder, the new professor of jazz voice in the Jacobs School of Music, performed “Silent Night” with the band.

Three high school seniors from Seymour, Ind. made the trip to Bloomington specifically for the concert.

“I thought it was really good,” senior Cassie Campbell said. “It was a lot more jazzy than the performance we attended two years ago.”

Ranging from the slow, smooth tunes of “Sugar Rum Cherry” performed by the band, to a snazzy rendition of an age-old classic, the “Hallelujah Chorus,” the concert kept the crowd busy with sing-alongs and applause.

“It was something, being up onstage,” freshman Lester Blumberg said. “The audience seemed to respond pretty well. There were times when we were doing the skits that it seemed a little corny, which it probably was, but the audience seemed to enjoy it.”

This year, both the Singing Hoosiers and Syncopation concluded the evening with “White Christmas.” As the curtains closed, the performers gave a final wave to the departing crowd.

“It’s always exciting performing, but it’s a whole other level when you’re performing in front of a crowd you can’t see the end of because of the lights,” freshman Jacob Suson said. “It’s both a really cool feeling and kind of terrifying too.”