The Bloomington musical community will kick off fall on Saturday with the annual B’Town Jazz Fest, a local jazz festival that features both local and IU musical talent.
Richard Baskin, a member of Pat Harbison & Butterfly Dreams, a modern jazz group performing in the fest, said it’s important for the community to have a concentrated jazz outlet to enjoy.
“I think that with the school of music, one of the top schools of music being in Bloomington, it’s important that we do these types of events for our visibility and representation,” Baskin said. “A lot of people like jazz in this town, but they don’t really get to hear it in such a concentrated way all the time. Having a festival dedicated to jazz is important.”
The festival will begin at the Bloomington Farmers Market near West Seventh Street with a performance from the Jefferson Street Parade Band in a marching band-style procession. The band will play New Orleans parade music on the way from the farmers market to the festival stage on the southeast corner of the Monroe County Courthouse. The march will begin at 11:40 a.m., and the band will play on stage from noon to 12:30 p.m.
“It’s sort of a pied piper effect,” Chair of the Festival John Porter said. “The people hear the music as it moves and follow it to the courthouse.”
The jazz festival will continue until 11 p.m.
The festival originated five years ago on Grant Street in front of what is now Quaff On! Brewing Company. The location was previously Cafe Jango, the only full-time jazz venue that featured live jazz six or seven days a week. The B’Town Jazz organization worked with the restaurant owners and began what is now B’Town Jazz Fest.
Last year, the festival moved to the Monroe County Courthouse lawn. Porter said the organization is lucky to have a local booker, David Miller, on the festival’s committee.
“David does all the bookings for Bear’s Place for the series ‘Jazz Fables,’” Porter said. “He’s always privy not only to local groups, but the young and upcoming talent in the University.”
With Miller’s help, the festival features a number of genres within jazz, including jazz fusion, dixieland jazz, postmodern jazz, jazz/rock and even a political group, the Liberation Music Collective, which Porter said creates music to reflect the current political climate.
For more information, visit btownjazz.org or visit B’Town Jazz on Facebook.
“Jazz is music of the people,” Porter said. “It is a folk music. There is nothing more American than a jazz festival, than jazz music. We have such a rich cultural scene in Bloomington, and the jazz community makes up such a big part of that, not only through the University but the local talent as well.”
