Des Moines Performances!

By Max | Published: March 2, 2010

DES MOINES PERFORMANCES!

Hi Everyone-

I hope everything has been going well for all of you! Just thought I’d send you a special reminder about the performances coming up starting this week at Chuck’s! I can’t wait to see all of you guys and get a chance to play some great music with the group again! Dates and times are listed below… Thanks as always for your support!

Friday, March 5th – Des Moines – Chuck’s I’ll be returning to good ol’ Chuck’s with my quartet for an evening full of standards and original material! Nick Rieser on the piano, Steve Charlson with his bass, and Mr. Dave Rezek on trumpet. Should be a great night!

Wednesday, March 10th – Des Moines – Chuck’s Our second installment of the week will include the Trio as we continue to provide you with great live jazz! Ron Roberts will join me on guitar, and Steve will be holding down his fort as usual.

Friday, March 12th – Des Moines – Chuck’s Hopefully, Linda Bisignano will not have thrown us out yet! The regular quartet will be back from the previous Friday to provide me with a great sendoff!

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MW
(515)490-5497
max@maxwellmanmusic.com

WWW.MAXWELLMANMUSIC.COM

Our mailing address is:
Wellman Music, LLC
5908 Harwood Drive
Des Moines, IA 50312

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Bravo Gala w/ Ken Arlen Orchestra

By Max | Published: February 10, 2010

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to Des Moines to sing for Bravo’s 2010 Gala celebrating the arts in Greater Des Moines. Bravo is a fantastic organization that has given over $12 million to fine arts organizations in the state of Iowa in the past 5 years. Several of those organizations were ones that I was a part of while growing up, enabling me to develop into the artist I am today. I will forever be grateful to Bravo for their support of the fine arts in Des Moines.

Since I had been so involved with their grantees, most notably the Heartland Youth Choir, Bravo wanted to showcase me at the gala in promotion of the Hoyt Sherman concert I’m producing this summer. When I was approached about this opportunity, it was a no-brainer to accept. It’s one of the premiere events in Des Moines art scene, a performance given in front of over 800 of the most influential people in the state of Iowa.

Then came the real kicker; I would be performing with The Ken Arlen Orchestra, a Chicago sensation! This was sure to be a great night.

As Abby and I arrived, it was clear that my assumptions were correct. The setup was straight out of a movie, a grandiose setting if I have ever seen one. The speeches came and went, and then it was time to take the stage with Ken Arlen.

First, we gave them “Come Fly With Me”, which is always a good opener. Not my best song, but nearly anyone you sing to identifies with the song in some way, and it makes it clear which genre I am a part of. It went very well, and it felt incredible to be on the stage with a big band. Next, I finished with my current favorite, Sinatra’s “I’m A Fool To Want You”. It’s typically quite an epic, desperate song, but this setting took it to a whole new level. All of the musicians on that stage were 100% in tune with what I was doing, and we were in perfect communication the whole way through. It was a whole lot of fun.

Immediately following my performance, Ken Arlen spoke with me about working with him in Chicago in the future… will have to keep that in mind as time goes by. He was a true class act, and his band was phenomenal. Next, I went on a good round of introductions to the VIPs, promoting the Hoyt Sherman event the whole way.

All in all, it was a very successful event. We shall have to see what becomes of it… Next up, I’ll be returning to the Jazz Kitchen with Rob Dixon sometime soon, as well as pursuing other performance opportunities in Indianapolis… will keep you updated!

Thanks for reading!

–
MW
max@maxwellmanmusic.com

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Plans…

By Max | Published: February 4, 2010

This has been a very interesting week for me. It seems that all week long, I’ve been brainstorming like nobody’s business. I go through little cycles like this quite often, usually after I get done actually doing a whole lot of things… It’s my way of taking a step back and planning the next phase of this operation that is my life. Of course, good things have come out of this planning as usual. I have the rest of the year jam packed through August, and it all looks pretty epic if I do say so myself.

First of all, let me talk a bit about the highlight for the whole summer this year. On Saturday, July 31st, I will be putting on a concert with my first big band! Dave Rezek has helped me get the group assembled, and I can confidently say that we have come up with some of the finest musicians around. It’s quite an endeavor, and there are a few more details to be taken care of… okay, a bit more than a few details… but the green light is on and I’m ready to go! Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to mention that we’re going to be recording the concert through Steve Capp, and the recording will be my next full length album to go out… very exciting! Tickets should go on sale in May, so keep your eyes open! This will truly be one of the finest events in Des Moines this summer, and I get more excited about it every day!

I’m also in the beginning stages of planning a ‘reunion’ concert of sorts taking place at the end of May at a venue to be determined… more on that later. Aside from that, I started talks this week with the Des Moines Art Festival and Jazz in July Festival about repeat performances, so that’s something to be celebrated as well!

Things in Indianapolis are going very well, although a lot of my time has been devoted to my studies lately. Of course, that is a good thing, too! My piano lessons with local legend Gary Walters have gone so well that I have committed to a few piano gigs already for this summer, which should be great!

This weekend, I’ll be back in Des Moines for Bravo’s annual gala event celebrating the arts in Des Moines. I’ll be singing with The Ken Arlen Orchestra, one of Chicago’s finest bands! They were recently seen for a week at the Bellagio in Vegas… This is all in an effort to stir up awareness/support for the Hoyt Sherman concert, so it should be a great night! I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks for reading!

–

MW

max@maxwellmanmusic.com

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Getting Booked in Indy: Episode 1 (Debut @ The Jazz Kitchen)

By Max | Published: January 13, 2010

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.

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MW

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Back in Indianapolis

By Max | Published: January 11, 2010

This week marks my return to Indianapolis after a wonderful month in Des Moines. Thanks to everyone who came out to our shows through December and January! In just over three weeks, we pulled off eleven very well attended performances, for which I have all of you to thank. We had several shows at Chuck’s, a New Year’s Eve celebration that included both the Civic Center and The Grand Piano Bistro, and even a gig at The Des Moines Art Center. I consider it a successful run.

In the midst of all this, I was out and about Des Moines making plans for a fantastic event coming this summer! I’m proud to announce (very tentatively) that Dave Rezek and myself have assembled a star-studded cast of musicians that will make up my first big band! We will be performing at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines the last weekend of July. The concert will be recorded, and I will release the recording as my next album. This is all incredibly exciting, and I’m enjoying every second of the project already! However, as I mentioned earlier, the plans are tentative at this point. That is mostly due to the budget that we are taking on… An extensive amount of funds have already been raised, but we’re a little over half-way there. Basically, if you have a small fortune you’re looking to invest or give away, I think I could probably help you out : ) There’s my plug for the week.

Here in Indianapolis, I’m getting geared up for another semester at Butler University’s Jordan College of Fine Arts. This new year promises to bring about plenty of great projects here as well, as I will begin my full submersion into the local jazz scene. I have a long list of fantastic venues to contact this week, and most of my first combo is already set and ready to go! I’ll keep you updated on how things progress…

Aside from that, I’m looking forward to starting piano lessons with the legendary Gary Walters this week… His skills on the piano often have me awestruck, and I have to admit I’m a bit intimidated, but mostly excited. It is one of my top goals to become a more-than-decent jazz pianist by the time I graduate. I have always admired the jazz musician who not only sings well, but shows incredible chops at the piano, ala Harry Connick Jr. and/or Jamie Cullum.  Not to say I could ever achieve that level of excellence, but hey, might as well for the moon, right? Gary claims it’s well within my reach, so I suppose we’ll have to see… Again, I suppose I’ll keep you updated on this also.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think of the new website and/or the blog. Talk to you soon.

–

MW

max@maxwellmanmusic.com

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Last Week; Big Band Concert

By Max | Published: January 3, 2010

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday season! It is now time to move on into the doldrums of January and February… Oh well, at least I’ll be heading for a semi-warmer climate in a week.

Last week was quite an eventful one: a week full of meetings planning this summer’s concert at Hoyt Sherman Place w/ my Big Band (more on that later ; ) , a few shows at Chuck’s Restaurant, and a New Year’s Eve concert at The Civic Center and The Grand Piano Bistro… phew! A busy week, indeed… but a very good one!

The show at The Civic Center was particularly enthralling… Steve Lippia, a very talented crooner from Las Vegas, was brought in to pay tribute to Frank Sinatra on New Year’s Eve alongside Maestro Giunta’s Des Moines Symphony and The Des Moines Big Band. My quartet was hired to play in the lobby at the Civic Center before the concert started in promotion of my event coming up this summer (again, more on that later!). The day before the concert, Steve came in to rehearse with the groups. He took control of the rehearsal and clearly is very passionate about the Great American Songbook, which was neat to watch. I had the privilege of being introduced to him by Maestro Giunta, and was able to speak with him for a brief moment. We exchanged numbers and will hopefully be talking more in the future…

The actual performance was incredible! I was a bit worried that our combo would become background music, as we were performing before the actual concert and did not have a full stage or anything. However, people seemed to really enjoy what was going on, and we had a concert setting of our own! I was told by a few people working at the Civic Center that they started the concert a bit late because they couldn’t get enough people to leave the lobby in time for the first number! Whether that is true or not, I’m not sure, but I’ll take it!

We’ll be playing at Chuck’s this week on Wednesday (7:00-10:00 w/ Nick Rieser and Steve Charlson) and Friday (8:00-11:00 w/ Ron Roberts, Steve Charlson, and Dave Rezek), and I would love to see all of you before I leave town on Sunday! Thanks as always.

MW

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Hi Everyone!

By Max | Published: December 31, 2009

Welcome to the new and improved maxwellmanmusic.com! As you’ll find, this website (beautifully designed by Scott Graham with the artwork of Dawn Parizek, Courtney Work, and Liz Palik) offers many features that weren’t available before, such as this ‘blog’. I’ll be doing my best to use these new features to stay in closer contact with all of you! Please check by at any time to find out about upcoming shows, bigger projects in the works such as the Hoyt Sherman Place/Big Band plans for this summer, or maybe just my thoughts on what I had for dinner that day. Who knows? This could be dangerous…

At any rate, I need to go put some music together for tomorrow night’s gig so that the band doesn’t kill me and then get some sleep. Thanks for checking in! By the way, always feel free to give me your thoughts on the new look or gadgets on the website! Happy New Year!

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