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

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Wellman Music, LLC
5908 Harwood Drive
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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!

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MW
max@maxwellmanmusic.com

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

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

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.

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MW

max@maxwellmanmusic.com

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

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!