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
Plans…
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!
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MW
max@maxwellmanmusic.com