It’s official. I have taken the plunge in Indianapolis. This week, I initiated my plan to get booked in Indianapolis. I am very curious to see how this all works out compared to the process I went through in my hometown of Des Moines. It was tough in DSM, but I had built in connections through numerous family members heavily involved in the restaurant scene. Here, I’m all on my own. Granted, I have a lot of credentials that I didn’t have, experience I have gained, but it will definitely be an interesting journey.

Last night, I made my first real trip to The Jazz Kitchen: the premiere jazz club in Indianapolis. This place is on par with some of the finest jazz clubs in this country. It’s owned and operated by local musicians, and has housed greats such as Harry Connick and Kurt Elling, to name a few. As I walked in, I took a moment to really let the scene set in… a packed room, virtually silent as they listened attentively to the fine musicians, treated to fantastic food by candlelight. It felt good.

The man at the door was Frank. Frank is the door man most nights at the Jazz Kitchen, one of the original staff members when it opened 15 years ago or so. He was very nice, letting me know when good nights were to stop by on and such… The group playing was The Jazz Lips, a new Dixieland 6-piece combo made up of various music professors in the area. Needless to say, they were phenomenal. I had a chance afterwords to speak with each of the musicians, who were all very nice.

As I left, Frank told me I should stop in the next night to check out the Rob Dixon Quartet. He said he would introduce me to Rob, one of the ‘finest musicians in town’. I told him I would do my best to stop by. So, tonight I made my way down to The Jazz Kitchen to check it out. As I walked in, Frank shook my hand and led me to a good table near the back of the room. After I had ordered my food, Frank brought Rob Dixon over to introduce me to. Rob was very gracious, saying he’d love to have me up for a tune in the second set. Before they started playing, Frank put my CD, ‘Comes Love’, into the sound system for patrons to listen to. I guess he liked it.

I sang “Star Dust” and, by popular demand, “Georgia On My Mind”, both of them Indiana-born Hoagy Charmichael’s tunes. It went very well and Rob said he wants to have me back with the band soon. I’ll keep you updated.

Thanks for reading.

–

MW