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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
As the drums reverberate, rituals of music and dancing persist as they have for generations. The pulsing rhythms of West African drums such as the djembe and the djun djun have permeated the native lands of Mali, Guinea and several other West African countries existing as a cultural cornerstone for these people. The cultural melting pot of the United States has allowed these traditions to cross the Atlantic and blend in with our own musical styles. \nAnyone who has been around any drum circles knows that African hand drumming is incredibly popular and that this trend is growing rapidly. But there is more to this style of drumming than just banging around without any style or rhythm. There is a proper technique and distinct style, and Bloomington has a teacher who specializes in this kind of popular musical variety.\nZack Fry teaches two classes on the basics of African hand drumming -- one for beginners and one for the intermediate player with some experience in this style. His goal is to bring African drumming to Bloomington as a respected musical art form. "I've lived in several other college towns and all had happening African music communities," Fry says. "My hope is that I can bring the same thing to Bloomington." \nAll drums used are authentic African drums. The djembe is a goblet-shaped drum, tuned tightly with African goatskin. It can be tuned progressively from low to high pitched. This is usually used as the lead drum in the circle. The other drums are from a family of drums called the djun djuns, which are barrel-shaped drums laid on their sides and played on either head. The smallest is known as the kenkeni, the medium drum is the sangemba and the largest drum is the dun dunba. This drum has the lowest frequency of all the drums in the circle and it carries the rhythm that dancers follow in the traditional African context. Some of the students bring their own drums but many belong to Fry himself.\n"I used to play on other people's drums and then I asked for one for Christmas," says Ben Fraser, a Bloomington resident. "I just want to add to more African drumming traditions because I feel it will make me a better drummer." \nFry's class is focused mostly around this African tradition.\n"I like to honor traditions. My best experiences in hand drumming have been in its traditional context," Fry says. "One of the reasons I like hand drumming is because of its versatility. Djembes, congas and timbales are all very danceable instruments, and in the traditional context dancing and drumming have a close correlation."\nThough drum circles are popular, he says that much more technique goes into this style of drumming than most people expect, and his goal is that people will take advantage of the opportunity to learn what these drums really have to offer. "Hand drumming has been adopted in America as a community-oriented activity, and this is good and bad," Fry explains. "It's good because of the easy public access, because they're easy to pick up, and because they're not intimidating. But the downside is the its loss of credibility as a 'real instrument.'"\nFry has a great past devoted to drumming. His first exposure to drumming came when he was 12 years old and experienced the Chicago Blues Festival. The rhythms of these drummers captivated him, but this fascination lay dormant in him for several years. Years later, while working at a record store, his boyhood passion for percussion led him to fall in love with salsa music and with bands like Santana. He eventually attended the Nashville Percussion Institute and studied under hand drummers Dan Sherrill and Glenn Caruba, who became two of his mentors. After this he traveled to New York and studied at the Djoniba School of West African Drum and Dance and later studied Latin Percussion at the Harbor Conservatory in Spanish Harlem. Now attending IU for Communication and Culture as well as Anthropology, Fry is spreading his knowledge of hand drumming and the cultures native to these drums.\n"For me, drumming wasn't really a choice," Fry says. "It was just too captivating, and it made my heart beat like a freight train. Since then, I've been a slave to the drum." Fry's present students seem to agree with him on this one.\n"I love this type of drumming because of its power," says Chris Dintaman, a former IU student who is now a geologist. "The complex polyrhythms stretch learning and strech the mind," Dintaman says. He bumped into Fry in a small community of hand drummers in town and has studied with him since then. "African music is not as appealing to Western audiences. With African drumming, it is essential to understand the culture. Then, participating it becomes an entirely different thing," Dintaman says.\nFry's class starts with a drum call, or the tap off that gets the other musicians started. One of the most complex aspects of the music is that everyone has their own parts and they are all playing them simultaneously on specific drums to create a particular rhythm. After teaching the individual parts to the students on their assigned drums, Fry starts in on the djembe and calls others in and out to get different sound combinations. It's not just an unorganized jam session, but also a truly intricate piece of music with a great deal of rhythmic complexity.\nFry's students praise him as a teacher. \n"Zack knows the language of drums," says Helger Oomkes, another student. "He asks you for respect when you are playing, and he makes you confident whether you've ever done it or not." \nRespect isn't the only thing that draws drummers to Fry's classes. They also recognize his skill.\n"The first time I played with Zack, I realized he was a good teacher," Fraser says. "If I drum with this guy, I will get better every time."\nFry's hour-long classes are held at 3 p.m. every Sunday for beginners and at 4:30 p.m. for the intermediate players at the Harmony School, 909 E. Second St. Lessons are $12 each.
(02/13/02 5:00am)
As the drums reverberate, rituals of music and dancing persist as they have for generations. The pulsing rhythms of West African drums such as the djembe and the djun djun have permeated the native lands of Mali, Guinea and several other West African countries existing as a cultural cornerstone for these people. The cultural melting pot of the United States has allowed these traditions to cross the Atlantic and blend in with our own musical styles. \nAnyone who has been around any drum circles knows that African hand drumming is incredibly popular and that this trend is growing rapidly. But there is more to this style of drumming than just banging around without any style or rhythm. There is a proper technique and distinct style, and Bloomington has a teacher who specializes in this kind of popular musical variety.\nZack Fry teaches two classes on the basics of African hand drumming -- one for beginners and one for the intermediate player with some experience in this style. His goal is to bring African drumming to Bloomington as a respected musical art form. "I've lived in several other college towns and all had happening African music communities," Fry says. "My hope is that I can bring the same thing to Bloomington." \nAll drums used are authentic African drums. The djembe is a goblet-shaped drum, tuned tightly with African goatskin. It can be tuned progressively from low to high pitched. This is usually used as the lead drum in the circle. The other drums are from a family of drums called the djun djuns, which are barrel-shaped drums laid on their sides and played on either head. The smallest is known as the kenkeni, the medium drum is the sangemba and the largest drum is the dun dunba. This drum has the lowest frequency of all the drums in the circle and it carries the rhythm that dancers follow in the traditional African context. Some of the students bring their own drums but many belong to Fry himself.\n"I used to play on other people's drums and then I asked for one for Christmas," says Ben Fraser, a Bloomington resident. "I just want to add to more African drumming traditions because I feel it will make me a better drummer." \nFry's class is focused mostly around this African tradition.\n"I like to honor traditions. My best experiences in hand drumming have been in its traditional context," Fry says. "One of the reasons I like hand drumming is because of its versatility. Djembes, congas and timbales are all very danceable instruments, and in the traditional context dancing and drumming have a close correlation."\nThough drum circles are popular, he says that much more technique goes into this style of drumming than most people expect, and his goal is that people will take advantage of the opportunity to learn what these drums really have to offer. "Hand drumming has been adopted in America as a community-oriented activity, and this is good and bad," Fry explains. "It's good because of the easy public access, because they're easy to pick up, and because they're not intimidating. But the downside is the its loss of credibility as a 'real instrument.'"\nFry has a great past devoted to drumming. His first exposure to drumming came when he was 12 years old and experienced the Chicago Blues Festival. The rhythms of these drummers captivated him, but this fascination lay dormant in him for several years. Years later, while working at a record store, his boyhood passion for percussion led him to fall in love with salsa music and with bands like Santana. He eventually attended the Nashville Percussion Institute and studied under hand drummers Dan Sherrill and Glenn Caruba, who became two of his mentors. After this he traveled to New York and studied at the Djoniba School of West African Drum and Dance and later studied Latin Percussion at the Harbor Conservatory in Spanish Harlem. Now attending IU for Communication and Culture as well as Anthropology, Fry is spreading his knowledge of hand drumming and the cultures native to these drums.\n"For me, drumming wasn't really a choice," Fry says. "It was just too captivating, and it made my heart beat like a freight train. Since then, I've been a slave to the drum." Fry's present students seem to agree with him on this one.\n"I love this type of drumming because of its power," says Chris Dintaman, a former IU student who is now a geologist. "The complex polyrhythms stretch learning and strech the mind," Dintaman says. He bumped into Fry in a small community of hand drummers in town and has studied with him since then. "African music is not as appealing to Western audiences. With African drumming, it is essential to understand the culture. Then, participating it becomes an entirely different thing," Dintaman says.\nFry's class starts with a drum call, or the tap off that gets the other musicians started. One of the most complex aspects of the music is that everyone has their own parts and they are all playing them simultaneously on specific drums to create a particular rhythm. After teaching the individual parts to the students on their assigned drums, Fry starts in on the djembe and calls others in and out to get different sound combinations. It's not just an unorganized jam session, but also a truly intricate piece of music with a great deal of rhythmic complexity.\nFry's students praise him as a teacher. \n"Zack knows the language of drums," says Helger Oomkes, another student. "He asks you for respect when you are playing, and he makes you confident whether you've ever done it or not." \nRespect isn't the only thing that draws drummers to Fry's classes. They also recognize his skill.\n"The first time I played with Zack, I realized he was a good teacher," Fraser says. "If I drum with this guy, I will get better every time."\nFry's hour-long classes are held at 3 p.m. every Sunday for beginners and at 4:30 p.m. for the intermediate players at the Harmony School, 909 E. Second St. Lessons are $12 each.
(01/30/02 4:22pm)
The army is pushing forward, and the front line is advancing into hostile enemy territory. Soldier after soldier goes down, but still they keep pushing with bombs exploding all around them and bullets whizzing past, mere inches from their heads. \nThe main character dashes across the screen and the dramatic music swells as our hero risks his life to do his duty. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a passing bullet strikes him and the music stops. He falls to the ground. Game over. This is the video game world, but it feels more like a movie. \nNowadays video games are filled with music: from every game's theme song to a separate music for every level. But gone are the days of simple synthesized music. Now we are seeing more and more games that are fully orchestrated -- and at the forefront of this trend is Michael Giacchino. When it comes to video game orchestration, Giacchino is fast becoming a master in his field. With several Playstation titles to his name now, the film student turned composer leads the way to a new era of video game music -- instead of tinny bleeps, now we'll be seeing more video game orchestration.\n"Movies used to be the only place to get that type of music," Giacchino says. "I hope we'll see it become one of the standard options on video games."\nGiacchino's boyhood fascination with movies and movie music is what eventually led him to filmmaking. In his hometown of Edgewater Park, N.J., he would make home movies with a small 8 mm camera with his friends. He also studied piano as a child. Eventually, he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. \nOriginally, Giacchino was interested in filmmaking, but later discovered he wanted to create movie music. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Giacchino began to study composition at the Julliard School at Lincoln Center and later moved to California and attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he entered the school's film-scoring program. He scored several short films before finally landing a gig with DreamWorks to score video games.\nGiacchino's first major job composing for video games was the Playstation version of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster hit "The Lost World," which contains the world's first ever completely orchestrated score for a video game. This job in 1997 led him to other Spielberg projects, the most famous of which is "Medal of Honor," a video game conceptually designed after the Spielberg movie "Saving Private Ryan." "Medal of Honor" was later followed by sequels "Medal of Honor: Underground" and "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault." Like a realistic movie about war, game creators decided that they wanted to make a video game as realistic as they could. \nGiacchino was chosen in 1998 to bring music to the game. The synthesized pieces common in most video games would not do. \nScott Langteau, the producer for the "Medal of Honor" series, wanted the music to be as authentic as possible, capturing the feel of the game just as the visual landscapes did. He also made sure the music was as high a priority as the other aspects of the game.\n"The music has always been inspired by history and our locations and scenarios in general," Langteau says. "Much of the music to 'Underground' dealt with the underlying tones of strength against an oppressive force basically bulldozing your life away… The plain fact of the matter is that every single component of putting the game together is vital to the whole, and if you skimp in one area, it's going to show in the final mix of things."\nThe intense nature of the action sequences and the emotional moments would give Giacchino a chance to let his artistic talent flow. But scoring a video game is quite different from scoring a movie. \n"It's not much different creatively, and it's kind of akin to writing concert music," Giacchino says. "But in video games, you have a lot more freedom to express ideas. In movies you have to know exactly what you have to do and exactly when you have to do it. In video games you write to capture the particular atmosphere of the level. Video games offer you more choices, so it's harder but more rewarding." \nRecording for a video game is closer to recording a movie than it is to an audio CD. Still, there are differences. \n"The only difference between recording music for a game and music for a motion picture is that when we record we don't have to have to wait around locating video," Simon James says. James is the concertmaster and orchestral contractor who worked on the "Medal of Honor" series. The Northwest Sinfonia, with which he works, was the orchestra used to record the music for the games. \nEven though orchestral music seems to be less popular today, Giacchino says he sees a large fan base for it. \n"Of course rock is big, but younger kids are playing these games. Modern 20th century (orchestra) is really all about trying new things," Giacchino says. "What we are doing is more like classical music and like music from the Romantic era. It's very tonal and really melodic in style." \nUntil recently, within the last five years or so, it wasn't even really possible to get high quality sound onto video games. Playstation uses CDs, so the music in the game can be heard at CD quality if the game producers wish to spend the money for a composer and an orchestra. Obviously, in the case of Giacchino and "Medal of Honor," DreamWorks was. With the help of the Northwest Sinfonia, the music for the game was written and recorded in 1998. \n"The game producers were really allies of the music," Steve Smith says. Smith is the recording engineer for the "Medal of Honor" series. "They wanted it to have a good and authentic sound -- everything from guns cocking to the Germans talking. They really focused on every aspect of the game."\nOne cannot help but be reminded of movie music like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (both are John Williams' works) when listening to "Medal of Honor." \nGiacchino says Williams, frequently regarded as one of the greatest soundtrack composers of all time, influenced his work. \n"What attracted me most to his music was anything that had a memorable melody -- something that you could lock onto while you were listening to it," Giacchino says. \nGiacchino is an up and coming star in the music world. With Sony putting more money into video games than they are into films, we are sure to see a continued trend in great musical scores for more and more games. Projects in Giacchino's future include "Medal of Honor: Frontline" and his continued work on ABC's hit drama "Alias." Giacchino is sure to be involved in many of the greatest scores yet to come, considering the response from his peers.\n"Michael is an awesome composer. His melodic themes instantly make emotions come out in the characters on the screen," Smith says. "These themes could work for any action movie"
(01/30/02 5:00am)
The army is pushing forward, and the front line is advancing into hostile enemy territory. Soldier after soldier goes down, but still they keep pushing with bombs exploding all around them and bullets whizzing past, mere inches from their heads. \nThe main character dashes across the screen and the dramatic music swells as our hero risks his life to do his duty. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a passing bullet strikes him and the music stops. He falls to the ground. Game over. This is the video game world, but it feels more like a movie. \nNowadays video games are filled with music: from every game's theme song to a separate music for every level. But gone are the days of simple synthesized music. Now we are seeing more and more games that are fully orchestrated -- and at the forefront of this trend is Michael Giacchino. When it comes to video game orchestration, Giacchino is fast becoming a master in his field. With several Playstation titles to his name now, the film student turned composer leads the way to a new era of video game music -- instead of tinny bleeps, now we'll be seeing more video game orchestration.\n"Movies used to be the only place to get that type of music," Giacchino says. "I hope we'll see it become one of the standard options on video games."\nGiacchino's boyhood fascination with movies and movie music is what eventually led him to filmmaking. In his hometown of Edgewater Park, N.J., he would make home movies with a small 8 mm camera with his friends. He also studied piano as a child. Eventually, he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. \nOriginally, Giacchino was interested in filmmaking, but later discovered he wanted to create movie music. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Giacchino began to study composition at the Julliard School at Lincoln Center and later moved to California and attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he entered the school's film-scoring program. He scored several short films before finally landing a gig with DreamWorks to score video games.\nGiacchino's first major job composing for video games was the Playstation version of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster hit "The Lost World," which contains the world's first ever completely orchestrated score for a video game. This job in 1997 led him to other Spielberg projects, the most famous of which is "Medal of Honor," a video game conceptually designed after the Spielberg movie "Saving Private Ryan." "Medal of Honor" was later followed by sequels "Medal of Honor: Underground" and "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault." Like a realistic movie about war, game creators decided that they wanted to make a video game as realistic as they could. \nGiacchino was chosen in 1998 to bring music to the game. The synthesized pieces common in most video games would not do. \nScott Langteau, the producer for the "Medal of Honor" series, wanted the music to be as authentic as possible, capturing the feel of the game just as the visual landscapes did. He also made sure the music was as high a priority as the other aspects of the game.\n"The music has always been inspired by history and our locations and scenarios in general," Langteau says. "Much of the music to 'Underground' dealt with the underlying tones of strength against an oppressive force basically bulldozing your life away… The plain fact of the matter is that every single component of putting the game together is vital to the whole, and if you skimp in one area, it's going to show in the final mix of things."\nThe intense nature of the action sequences and the emotional moments would give Giacchino a chance to let his artistic talent flow. But scoring a video game is quite different from scoring a movie. \n"It's not much different creatively, and it's kind of akin to writing concert music," Giacchino says. "But in video games, you have a lot more freedom to express ideas. In movies you have to know exactly what you have to do and exactly when you have to do it. In video games you write to capture the particular atmosphere of the level. Video games offer you more choices, so it's harder but more rewarding." \nRecording for a video game is closer to recording a movie than it is to an audio CD. Still, there are differences. \n"The only difference between recording music for a game and music for a motion picture is that when we record we don't have to have to wait around locating video," Simon James says. James is the concertmaster and orchestral contractor who worked on the "Medal of Honor" series. The Northwest Sinfonia, with which he works, was the orchestra used to record the music for the games. \nEven though orchestral music seems to be less popular today, Giacchino says he sees a large fan base for it. \n"Of course rock is big, but younger kids are playing these games. Modern 20th century (orchestra) is really all about trying new things," Giacchino says. "What we are doing is more like classical music and like music from the Romantic era. It's very tonal and really melodic in style." \nUntil recently, within the last five years or so, it wasn't even really possible to get high quality sound onto video games. Playstation uses CDs, so the music in the game can be heard at CD quality if the game producers wish to spend the money for a composer and an orchestra. Obviously, in the case of Giacchino and "Medal of Honor," DreamWorks was. With the help of the Northwest Sinfonia, the music for the game was written and recorded in 1998. \n"The game producers were really allies of the music," Steve Smith says. Smith is the recording engineer for the "Medal of Honor" series. "They wanted it to have a good and authentic sound -- everything from guns cocking to the Germans talking. They really focused on every aspect of the game."\nOne cannot help but be reminded of movie music like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (both are John Williams' works) when listening to "Medal of Honor." \nGiacchino says Williams, frequently regarded as one of the greatest soundtrack composers of all time, influenced his work. \n"What attracted me most to his music was anything that had a memorable melody -- something that you could lock onto while you were listening to it," Giacchino says. \nGiacchino is an up and coming star in the music world. With Sony putting more money into video games than they are into films, we are sure to see a continued trend in great musical scores for more and more games. Projects in Giacchino's future include "Medal of Honor: Frontline" and his continued work on ABC's hit drama "Alias." Giacchino is sure to be involved in many of the greatest scores yet to come, considering the response from his peers.\n"Michael is an awesome composer. His melodic themes instantly make emotions come out in the characters on the screen," Smith says. "These themes could work for any action movie"
(09/03/01 6:54am)
Scientists have known for years the key to unlocking some of mankind's deadliest illnesses is the study of genetics. What they haven't always known is that the answers might not be revealed in the genes of humans, but in the genes of a fruitfly.\nFor 10 years, IU scientists have played an integral role contributing to the research.\n"Seventy-five percent of all disease-causing genes in humans have a homologue, or comparable gene, in fruitflies," said Thomas Kaufman, a distinguished professor of biology and senior fellow at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology. "Since we can observe processes much faster and much easier in fruitflies, we can compare that to what we could observe in humans."
(10/25/00 5:24am)
They give up every weekend for two months. They practice in the sweltering heat of mid-July and the frigid early morning chill of late October. \nUp to five months of the year is spent perfecting a seven-minute show.\nThis is the life of a high school marching band student. And this weekend was the last weekend of the season they had to sacrifice to that activity. \nIt was the state marching band finals in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, and one can be sure that it was an experience they wouldn't give up for anything. This was the time for thousands of students in the top 40 bands in the state to shine.\nState finals were the culmination of rounds of elimination not unlike athletics in which the highest scoring bands in a district competition advance to one of two regional sites. Judged on the quality of music, marching and the overall effectiveness of the show, the five top scoring bands from four classes will then advance to the state finals.\nCompetitions are not about winning and scoring. It is about the feeling members get coming off the field knowing that they gave an incredible performance. It is about improving a show every week and putting on the most perfect one at the end of the season. \nThis is an activity where self-improvement is usually more important to the students than winning. And many will say it gives them a love of music and lessons of life that will often extend into their later lives. \n"One of the best aspects of marching band is meeting new people and making memories that will last a lifetime," said North Harrison High School snare drummer Megan Asher, a senior. "It is not about competing and winning." \nFor some this love of music will take them to college marching band. \n"High school band members are taught valuable lessons in teamwork, organization, a sense of school spirit and an 'esprit de corps' not found in other organizations," said David Woodley, director of marching band and assistant director of bands for IU. "Almost all of the members of the IU Marching Hundred started their musical careers in their high school band."\nHigh school marching band is decidedly different from college marching band. While marching bands in college change their shows every week, high schools practice for the same show all year. Also, many high school shows have began to take a less traditional approach to marching band putting on a more theatrical production and employing the use of elaborate props built and designed by dedicated parents. But competitions are not part of college band. \n"Since competitions are not part of the college scene, our approach here is simply to entertain the crowd," Woodley said.\nBut the activity is all for the students. It is their love of music and performance that drives them further. \n"In high school you get a general knowledge of music," said Marching Hundred freshman tenor drum player Brad Snyder. "It gives you a thirst for more." \nWhether this thirst leads them to college marching band or to becoming professional musicians, the four years of high school marching band gives them an experience that will affect them in a positive way for the rest of their lives.
(09/28/00 4:15am)
Four men quietly took the stage Tuesday night at the TIS Music Shop as the small crowd mulled about the store, browsing through CDs and waiting for the concert to begin. \nWith no introduction, the four embraced their instruments and broke into their first number. The audience's attention quickly shifted to the stage, and the seats were immediately filled. Thus began the two hour set of IU alumnus Kyle Quass and his band, as they delved into their own unique style of jazz music.\nThis music was more than just jazz -- it was an interesting blend of other types of world music. The two percussionists, Kenny Phelps on drums and Julian Douglas on hand drums, laid down eccentric beats not often incorporated into jazz music. Auxiliary instruments like cowbells and frame drums added a distinctly Latin sound to some of the pieces, while other songs had a more African feel from use of a djembe. \nOne of the unique aspects of the songs was the way the rhythm section seemed to switch off between the set player and bassist Jeff Hiatt. At times the set would be laying down a steady groove while the bass varied its pattern behind the trumpet solos. And in other pieces the bass line was steady and repetitive while the drummer would fly across the tom-toms in his solos. \nThis added an interesting twist to the sound of many of the songs as the music lost one single focal point, and it was easier to concentrate on the band in its entirety rather than just one soloist at a time.\nBut the bulk of the solo work went to band leader Kyle Quass on trumpet. His solos displayed his unique talent for versatility in musical form. Some were slow and involved sustaining notes and integrating them into some incredibly beautiful melodies. Others followed a traditional upbeat jazz style, using quick runs and intricate patterns of notation. \nOne solo continued for several minutes as the percussionists slowly faded out and the bassist sustained one low note while the trumpet solo wailed on. Eventually, the bass dropped out as well, leaving Quass to play completely alone in an eerie ending to the long piece. These transitions were the trademark of Tuesday night's concert. The songs had amazing segues, which transformed groovy tunes into sonorous serenades.\nMost of the selections played were off of Quass's new CD Eye of the Beholder by Rumi Records. The CD includes original pieces by Quass as well as his renditions of songs by other artists.
(09/07/00 5:46am)
The Jazz from Bloomington All-Stars concert Tuesday night displayed exactly what jazz music is all about. It was an informal jam session that relied completely upon improvisation, making it extremely personal in nature as if the performers were communicating with the audience with each note. \nBecause of the small stage and its proximity to the audience, the people who came had an up-close vantage point to see these accomplished performers doing what they do best. This was the type of concert that drew the crowd into the music.\nIt was interesting to see the jazz in progress. There had been no practices, no rehearsals and no discussion beforehand about the pieces they would be playing. Everything was done on the spot. When the musicians took the stage, one would name a tune, and, if all the others knew it, it was played. All the songs were improvised in an amazing display of talent.\nThe most amazing thing about the concert was seeing the musicians communicating with one another and working with each other to make the music the best that it could be. Pete Wilhoit, a school of music employee who played percussion for most of the evening, said listening is the key. \n"Jazz can be ambiguous as far as how a person's role is defined," he said. "After understanding each other, it becomes easy." \nThe style of jazz music is fluid and loose, and it lets the musicians express themselves in their own ways. In nearly every song, each person in the ensemble had their own solo. \nThe concert was also a free forum for other artists to show off their talent. Only a few minutes into the concert, three students from the School of Music took the stage with the professionals and added rousing solos, which received much praise from the audience. Twins Rahsaan and Roland Barber, juniors, sat in on saxophone and trombone and graduate student Ansyn Banks sat in on trumpet. \nRahsaan, who played the sax, spoke about about how he got into jazz music. \n"I grew up listening to this kind of music," he said. "My grandmother played the piano. When you hear great artists like Ben Webster and Duke Ellington, it's a real inspiration to become better."\nThis concert itself did serve a purpose. It was a membership drive for Jazz from Bloomington, a nonprofit society dedicated to promoting jazz in this area. President and co-founder Monika Herzig, who played piano for the All-Stars, said the concert was to spread the word of the society and attract members. \nHerzig, also an IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis faculty member, chose the T.I.S. Music Shop, 1424 E. Third St. because of its Tuesday night jazz series which has been going on since February. Herzig worked with Ben McClelland, assistant manager of T.I.S., to arrange the concert. T.I.S. is helping promote the society as well as the Bloomington jazz scene. \n"We're working on promoting original jazz and giving the musicians a hot place to play in Bloomington," McClellan said.\nThe regional jazz scene will benefit greatly from the society, and the amount of support demonstrated in Tuesday night's concert shows Bloomington's interest in jazz is growing because of it.
(09/05/00 6:41am)
The Jazz From Bloomington All-Stars, an ensemble composed of professors and other established performers, will play today at T.I.S. Music Shop, 1424 E. Third St. The concert is to publicize the group, which is devoted to attracting accomplished jazz artists to the Bloomington region. \nLocal performer Monika Herzig and husband Peter Kienle founded the society three years ago, with the release of their CD "Jazz from Bloomington 1997." Herzig, president of the group, said she hopes people attend the event to introduce themselves to jazz.\nThe Jazz From Bloomington All-Stars include professors Pat Harbison, associate professor of music and jazz trumpeter; Tom Walsh, assistant professor of saxophone and jazz studies; and pianist Rick Heeter. Other performers include Herzig and Keinle, Janiece Jaffe, John Huber, Pete Wilhoit and David Miller. \nWalsh said one of the group's missions is to attract a wide variety of jazz artists to the area.\n"The goal is to bring in national and international artists who would not normally play in Bloomington," he said.\nThroughout the year, the "All-Stars" also hold educational clinics, which are run by the visiting artists for free. Herzig said this year's programs include the Christian MacBride Band, Dave Holland Quintet and John Abercrombie. All artists will play at the Buskirk-Chumley, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. Admission is discounted for members of the group.\nStarting this summer, the T.I.S. Music Shop has held jazz shows every Tuesday night. This performance continues the summer series. \nHarbison said T.I.S. is is a wonderful place to play because it is easy to reach a broad audience.\n"We try to reach the IU campus and then spread to the community as a whole rather than just attracting certain groups of people to certain places," he said. "T.I.S. lets us do this." \nWhile not officially affiliated with the group, the school of music actively promotes them. Maria Talbert, assistant director of communications for the school of music, said she encourages people to attend. \n"It is important for faculty to be in the community," she said. "I urge everyone to come out and see what will surely be a high quality performance."\nThe performers said the program will follow an informal jam session format. It will be mostly improvisation, the trademark for much of their jazz style.\nThe event, which will serve refreshments, runs from 7-10 p.m. It is free and open to the public. More information on the performers can be found at the School of Music Web site at www.music.indiana.edu.