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(04/04/03 4:11am)
Big Joe Duskin, Bob Seeley and Craig Brenner bring their distinct piano styles to Bloomington this Sunday in "An Afternoon of Blues and Boogie-Woogie Piano," at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. Doors open at 1:30 p.m., with a lecture at 2 p.m., and the music starting at 3 p.m. \nPresented by Jazz from Bloomington, tickets for the show are $11 in advance, or $7 for Jazz from Bloomington members. They can also be bought at the door for $14.\nThe show presents a style of music seldom heard around Bloomington.\n"I expect that the audience will have a great time listening to three regional masters of a great American musical art form, blues and boogie-woogie piano," said David Miller, a member of Jazz from Bloomington and creator of the Jazz Fables series at Bear's Place.\nComing from Detroit, Seeley also said that boogie-woogie is a great art form.\n"It is a dynamic, exciting form of blues, or, as I like to say, 'happy blues,'" Seeley said. "Blues is timeless, and much of American music has its foundation in blues."\nBrenner, who lives in Bloomington and studied at IU in the late seventies, is also excited about the show, particularly about playing with Duskin and Seeley.\n"I expect people will hear music that they don't get a chance to hear everyday, especially as played by the two guest artists," Brenner said. \nBrenner, who began playing piano as a child, has studied different instruments and musical styles.\nBut he will be more focused on boogie-woogie in his piano playing Sunday.\n"I like the range of the instrument -- from the lowest rumbling bass notes to the highest notes at the top of the keyboard," Brenner said.\nThe guest musicians have the reputation as being blues masters. Duskin will drive from Cincinnati to appear in the show.\n"Big Joe Duskin and Bob Seeley are acclaimed masters of this art form who have both played all over this country and Europe," Miller said. "This should be a wonderful chance to hear this classic American music at its finest."\nSeeley plans on trying to give more exposure to the music in his pre-concert lecture. He will talk about the origins of boogie, how to play it, what's happening with it in today's world, and other players both in the United States and in Europe.\nBrenner was one of the initiators of this Sunday's jazz program. He spoke with Jazz from Bloomington and IU music professor Pat Harbison about bringing both artists to the show.\n"Pat and I both knew we needed to have Joe Duskin here." Brenner said. "I suggested Bob Seeley. You've got to see him to believe him."\nBoth Harbison and Brenner were instrumental in presenting the idea of the show.\n"He had the same idea that it is important to expose younger musicians to this kind of blues and boogie-woogie music." Brenner said. "It's an important part of the tradition of American music and has been part of the development of not only jazz and blues but also rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and even some of the more contemporary styles in which rhythm plays a large part."\nSeeley also feels that the rhythm of the music is something people enjoy and need to experience.\n"Peace can feel the boogie beat," said Seeley. "It can make people happy"
(03/28/03 4:19am)
Avant-garde saxophonist John Butcher brings a solo performance Sunday to the John Waldron Arts Center's Rose Firebay Theatre. Local avant-garde group Colloid will open for Butcher, who is originally from England.\nFor Mary Belcher, saxophonist in Colloid, Butcher's playing exhibits "conceptual originality, eloquence, and technical abilities."\n"He explores minute gestures, especially how one sound can morph into another," said Belcher. \nButcher's performance will be solo, something the performer has grown accustomed to. This will be his second visit to Bloomington in as many years.\n"I've never seen him live, but I am looking forward to it," said IU alum Rob Dietz, who plays electronics in Colloid. \nDietz is particularly excited about Butcher's mimicking electric sounds on his acoustic saxophone.\n"He's done a lot of collaborations with electronic music," Dietz said. "He can take his horn and kind of extend it into realms most acoustic instruments don't go."\nEven a brief listen to Butcher's music expresses Dietz's observations, especially the solo performances. The music is breathy, wandering, and challenging to the ear. Butcher is considered central to avant-garde music in Europe, and has been praised by Jazz Review and Wire in the U.K. and The San Francisco Weekly and The San Francisco Bay Guardian in the U.S.\n"He doesn't focus on melody or rhythm, which is what audiences have come to expect," Belcher said. "He focuses on specific things, sounds, and explores them completely."\nShe was instrumental in bringing Butcher to Bloomington, helping organize the event and work out the details.\nColloid also explores the outer limits of music. Colloid mixes electronic music from Dietz with soprano sax from Belcher and tenor sax from IU alum Chris Rall.\n"We liked the interaction between acoustic instruments and electronic ones," said Dietz. "They can clash but make something beautiful as well."\nColloid, how has been playing and performing since Dietz and Belcher met three years ago, just added Rall on sax. The upcoming performance also begins a new phase in Colloid's career. \n"I like to play in different situations to bring out different aspects of what music can be," Belcher said.\nFor Belcher, Butcher's solo performance is the most anticipated aspect of the show.\n"I think he's a musician that operates on a very profound level and I imagine his performance will reflect that," Belcher said. "There'll probably be a sense of wonder and surprise to the music."\nThe show begins at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8 at the door or can be bought in advance at All Ears for $6.
(03/10/03 4:59am)
The Kyle Quass group brought its inventive but traditional jazz sounds to Jazz Fables on Thursday to play a tribute concert to master trumpeter Woody Shaw.\nLead by IU Jazz Studies alum Quass, the band also features Mark Tuttle on saxophone, Cory Smythe on piano, Brain Holtz, bass, Bryson Kern, drums, Tyron Cooper, leader of the IU Soul Revue, on guitar and vocals, and Jazz Fables organizer David Miller on trumpet.\nThe group opened with "Eastern Joy Dance," a tune which featured Cooper on scat vocals and Quass' elegant trumpet playing. Cooper and Quass ended the song in harmony, producing a neat sound combining vocals and trumpet.\n"Zoltan," a march by the composer of the same name, featured superb solos from both Quass and Smythe before returning to the march theme to end the song.\n"Katrina Ballerina" showcased Cooper's guitar interplay with the horn section. Cooper's solo was filled with octaves a la Wes Montgomery as well as a wonderful bluesy, tremolo-picked ending which fed into a sax solo from Tuttle.\n"The Moontrane," a tune written by Shaw when he was just 18 years old as a tribute to sax great John Coltrane, provided a thorough workout for bassist Holtz, who was making his first appearance at Jazz Fables. Smythe's solo featured a cool mix of rhythmic bursts, atonal runs and quick arpeggios, while Miller's trumpet solo covered comfortable ground in unfamiliar and entertaining ways.\n"Think On Me," a song by George Cables and covered by Shaw, was a relaxed groove full of late-night swing. It featured a short but sweet bass solo from Holtz, as well as Quass' best solo of the night, which ended the song and closed the first set.\n"Lotus Flower" opened the band's second set, with more great solos from Smythe and Quass and a wonderful scat vocal from Cooper.\n"Little Red's Fantasy" featured a bluesy colorful solo from Tuttle and more of Smythe's rhythmic madness -- which at times was a bit too much -- but nonetheless mostly enjoyable and certainly showed Smythe's depth of talent on the piano. The song also featured a perfect mild solo from Miller before a soft Quass solo melted into a tour de force on trumpet that delivered time and time again, leaving no doubt to the extent of talent and taste from Quass.\nQuass and company finished with "Sunbath" from Shaw's 1975 album "Love Dance." The song featured a monster groove, started out by the guitar and bass and featuring incredible interplay between them and drummer Kern. \nA good trumpet solo from Miller was followed by a funky, bluesy and exotic guitar solo from Cooper, who used those Wes-like octaves in a most intriguing way. Quass and Tuttle both had long and intense solos before Smythe took his last solo of the night, which turned out to be his best.\nSmythe went from quoting Cooper's guitar to churning in another awesome groove, which he then burst out of in a flurry of notes, shoulder muscles bulging from beneath his shirt and feet pounding the floor along with the beat. The band then rejoined in full swing and closed the song and the show.\nOverall, the performances were well-done and exciting. For those who were there, the evening was another memorable one full of great jazz presented by Jazz Fables.
(03/07/03 3:33pm)
Innovative, experimental and challenging. These three words aptly describe the music played by the "Monster Zero Orchestra" last Thursday at Bear's Place as part of the Jazz Fables concert series.\n"It's a really original group of musicians," said guitarist Jon Bremen of the 18-piece orchestra. "It really fuses together many different musical styles."\nThe band formed when Berklee College of Music graduate Koven J. Smith, the group's director, composer, and arranger, moved to Indianapolis in 2000.\n"I had a group like that in college, and I really wanted to do something like that again," Smith said.\nThe band started off its first set with "Cut Self Not," a cover song from a band called "Faraquet." The song would be typical of the rest of the music played by the orchestra the entire evening: full of varied passages, different tempos and complex time signatures and highlighted by solid and captivating solos. In this case, Ariel Alexander, saxophone, and B.J. Cord, trumpet, both turned in good solos.\n"Tell Me A Bedtime Story," an old Herbie Hancock number, showcased the rhythm section of the band as the group stretched out in a jazzy groove, while "Roark's Progress" found saxophonist Maria Eisen chiming in for an incredible bluesy solo with guitarist Bremen covering the fretboard of his guitar for his first solo of the evening.\n"Our Usual Day" featured a horns-only arrangement, while set-closer "Memory Machine" sprawled out from a half-time feel and a warm, resonate trumpet solo to inspired chaos, all instruments set for stun.\n"Cecil's Hotel" started the second set, followed by "Booker's Blues," featuring another Bremen solo and some solid grooving on behalf of bassist Joel Kelsey, pianist Drew Scalercio and vibes player Kurt Lubbe, who played drums for this song. The end result prompted director Smith to say, "That kicked ass."\n"Blowback" was introduced as a "very new song," starting off with a lilting bass riff and ending with two good trumpet and trombone solos.\nMonster Zero closed the evening with "Calcinator Death Ray," a song inspired by a movie where a creature tries to kill people with a death ray.\n"That song is based on an old 1950's grade-z science fiction flick called 'Robot Monster,'" Smith said.\nThe song's lilting rhythm and start-stop loud bursts of maddening noise stretched on for over twenty minutes and featured many outstanding solos, pushing and pulling through many different grooves and only occasionally toying with the subdued horn theme and full band freak-outs that opened the song.\n"A lot of these songs I consider to be autobiographical," Smith said. \nEach composition was unique, making the performance truly noteworthy.\n"Its just sort of improvisational music," Smith said. "Its pretty inclusive."\nLook for Monster Zero to play an upcoming show on April 19 at Radio Radio in Indianapolis.
(02/28/03 4:19am)
To jump-start Women's History Month, Mary Moss and "Women Kickin' It" will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday in the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. \n"It's just a great spirit when you put those ladies together," said Monika Herzig, booker and past president of Jazz from Bloomington. "And when you look at jazz, how many women jazz players do you know?"\nThe show will be lead by Moss, a jazz and blues vocalist from Indianapolis who created "Women Kickin' It," a showcase of female jazz musicians. Moss came up with the idea for the group three years ago. \n"It's a girlie thing," Moss said in a 2002 interview. "This is a showcase of what women are doing and how well we do it." \nThe group features four women with ties to Bloomington: Herzig, vocalist Janiece Jaffe, vocalist Stephanie Knox and alto saxophonist Cathy Spiagga. Also playing with the group will be harpist Jan Aldridge Clark and electric violinist Cathy Morris.\n"Those ladies are so good at what they do," Herzig said.\nThe show was proposed for the performance series because of its uniqueness and diversity.\n"Bringing it to Bloomington will allow additional exposure to Bloomington artists and the community," said Janice Skinner, development and marketing director for the Bloomington Area Arts Council.\n"Women Kickin' It" will play a "standard repertoire" of jazz, as well as a few originals and some surprises, too.\n"Janiece Jaffe will probably do a few originals, and I know Stephanie is planning on playing 'Fever,'" Herzig said. "There'll be lots of entertainment, not just a jazz show."\n"Women Kickin' It" has been a mainstay in Indianapolis, recently playing at the Arts Garden, the Madame Walker Theatre and the Jazz Kitchen. Each musician comes from a unique background to blend together a special performance.\n"It's really a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them play, especially here in Bloomington," Herzig said.\nThe show is a joint production of the BAAC and Jazz from Bloomington, an organization working with national and local jazz musicians to enrich the understanding of the art form in Bloomington and the surrounding area.\n"We have worked with Jazz from Bloomington in the past and it is a good partnership," Skinner said.\nThe show is meant for all different tastes, she said.\n"It will blend an audience from all parts of the community," Skinner said. "I'm looking forward to being in the audience."\nDescribed by Mary Moss as "a girlie thing -- a showcase of what women are doing and how well we do it," the show will feature varied talents while still trying to be fun and entertaining.\n"It's just a really fun show to watch and to get drawn into," Herzig said.\nThe show is presented by the Bloomington Area Arts Council and Jazz from Bloomington as part of the 10th anniversary of the John Waldron Arts Center Performance Series. Tickets are $12 for the general public, $11 for BAAC or JFB members, and $10 for students and seniors.
(02/25/03 4:46am)
Miles Davis was the "Picasso of Jazz," reinventing himself and his sound endlessly in his musical quest. He was an artist that defied (and despised) categorization, yet he was the forerunner and innovator of many distinct and important musical movements. In a Feb. 20 tribute to Miles Davis, Distinguished Professor of Music David Baker and members of IU jazz faculty showcased Davis' influence on modern jazz. The show was part of the Jazz Fables series at Bear's Place (1316 E. Third St.) every Thursday night.\nPlaying such standards as "Someday My Prince Will Come," and "Bye Bye Blackbird," recorded by Miles Davis, as well as original Davis compositions as "Nardis," and "So What," Baker, who is also the chair of the Jazz Studies department, led the faculty and event organizer David Miller through an evening of wonderfully arranged and magnificently played jazz in tribute to arguably the most important jazz artist of all time.\nThe band kicked off its first set with "Bye Bye Blackbird," which lasted over twenty minutes. The song peaked as Pat Harbison on trumpet, Tom Walsh on saxophone, Miller on trumpet and Baker on cello traded "fours" with drummer Steve Houghton. Bruce Bransby added his superb bass playing, while Luke Gillespie chimed in with an excellent piano performance.\nMidway through the first set, the band played "Nardis," a tune written but never recorded by Davis. This was certainly the highlight of the evening. The soulful and somber song allowed each player to put his own stamp on the piece. \nBaker put in his best solo for the night, mixing harmonics and chords into his fluid, rapid-fire cello playing. After a good solo from Walsh, pianist Gillespie went mad on his instrument, adding a Latin feel to the song and deftly maneuvering the music into off-kilter and unexplored territory.\nWhen the band eased into "So What," one of Davis' best-known songs, it seemed they were winding down for the evening. But Walsh played a sax solo that completely recharged the energy in the band and was by far his best solo of the night. After each player, particularly Harbison, took extended but incredible solos, Gillespie wound the song down with an atonal solo which led to a closing solo by Bransby.\n"Freddie Freeloader" came next, followed by the closing number, "If I Were A Bell." A sweet Harbison solo started the song off, and each musician got into the song, making the last one count. While Baker seemed to steal the show in the first set, Harbison certainly put in his bid for the second, giving listeners a chance to hear some amazing solos.\nOverall, the show was top-notch, everything you'd expect from the IU Jazz Faculty and Jazz Fables and much more.\nBe sure to check out this Thursday's concert from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Jazz Fables presents Koven J. Smith directing the Monster Zero Orchestra at Bear's Place. Cover for the show is $5.
(02/24/03 5:25am)
The IU School of Music's jazz faculty will perform a tribute concert to Miles Davis from 5:30 to 8 p.m. tonight at Bear's Place. The program is part of the Jazz Fables concert series taking place every Thursday night.\n"I often think the Miles Davis and John Coltrane concerts are some of the best of Jazz Fables, because we have so much fun," said David Miller, an IU faculty member who started Jazz Fables in 1977.\nThe program has seen many changes -- including a change of location to Bear's in 1989. And if the current climate of Jazz Fables says anything, he has no intentions of slowing down.\n"It is a labor of love," Miller said, "but after all these years, I have been extremely blessed to play this music with so many talented musicians."\nBut tonight isn't about the musicians as individuals, it's about the music of Miles Davis. David Baker, chair of the Music department, chose and arranged some Davis originals including "So What," "Freddie Freeloader" and "Nardis," as well as some jazz standards Davis recorded, such as "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Stella by Starlight." \n"We won't see the music until we get there," said Tom Walsh, assistant professor of saxophone and jazz studies, who will also play in the concert. "Expect the unexpected; that's what jazz is all about."\nMiller, who plays the trumpet -- Davis' instrument of choice, also has prepared a tribute to Davis.\n"Knowing David, he'll always put a little personal touch in there," said Miller, who counts Miles Davis as his main inspiration in playing the trumpet.\nOther IU jazz faculty members will perform together with Miller, Baker and Walsh, including Chair of the Jazz Studies Department, Pat Harbison on trumpet, Luke Gillespie on piano, Steve Houghton on drums and Bruce Bransby on double bass. The musicians like the challenge and seeing how each handle it. \n"It's always an inspiration to have David Baker as our featured artist," Miller said. "He's a reason why so many talented people are here to play with."\nMiller's praise doesn't stop at Baker, though. He's excited to be playing with all of the faculty for this concert.\n"It's really an extraordinary group of musicians," Miller said.\nSince its inception, Jazz Fables has drawn on talent from the School of Music, including both students and faculty. Much of that talent comes courtesy of Baker, who is the director of a prestigious jazz orchestra. Baker will also play the cello in tonight's concert.\n"It wouldn't be possible without the talent David Baker draws," Miller said.\nBut Baker feels that Miller, a trumpet player who plays at most of the concerts, is the catalyst behind Jazz Fables.\n"It's music that you wouldn't hear if David Miller wasn't here," Baker said. "That's an outlet that wouldn't be here otherwise."\nBaker isn't the only one who appreciates Miller's contribution to the community.\n"It's a great situation when you have this many people in a jazz faculty who love to play together," Walsh said. "That's something I certainly enjoy a lot."\nMiller also appreciates the crowds that come to see Jazz Fables.\n"It's been an extremely gratifying run, especially at Bear's," he said. "To have an audience that listens to you has a different feel."\nBaker also said "having an opportunity to play to an appreciative crowd" was one of his favorite things about the series.\nBut for Baker, the best thing about Jazz Fables has been that Miller has continued the event so long that it has become a tradition.\n"David Miller has been the groove," Baker said. "I am so thankful that he has kept this thing alive, just for the opportunity to play for our students and colleagues."\nWalsh also said Miller's contribution to the Bloomington community is what is paramount about Jazz Fables.\n"It's through his efforts that this happens and for that I'm most thankful," Walsh said. "I don't know if there's ever been anything like this in Bloomington, or for that matter, anywhere."\nFor Miller, who started Jazz Fables so long ago as a regular gig, and who has adapted it into the showcase of jazz talent that it is today, he's just happy to play with so many different people and to have a venue to do so.\n"It gives people a greater chance to appreciate jazz, and it gives local players a chance to play together," Miller said. "It's become an outlet for all the jazz styles and all the jazz players in the area. It's been one of the things I am most proud of"