Results for "Indianapolis"

David Baker

Born: December 21, 1931

David Nathaniel Baker, Jr. was born December 21, 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. A virtuoso performer on multiple instruments and top in his field in several disciplines, Mr. Baker has taught and performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. He is also the conductor and musical & artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Mr. Baker received both bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Indiana University and has studied with a wide range of master teachers, performers and composers including J.J

Wes Montgomery

Born: March 6, 1923

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States (where he also died of a heart attack in 1968), Montgomery came from a musical family, in which his brothers, Monk (string bass and electric bass) and Buddy (vibraphone, and piano), were jazz performers. Although Wes was not skilled at reading music, he could learn complex melodies and riffs by ear. Montgomery started learning guitar in his late teens, listening to and learning recordings of his idol, the guitarist Charlie Christian.

Along with the use of octaves (playing the same note on two strings one octave apart) for which he is widely known, Montgomery was also an excellent "single-line" or "single-note" player, and was very influential in the use of block chords in his solos. His playing on the jazz standard "Lover Man" is an example of his single-note, octave and block chord soloing. ("Lover Man" appears on the Fantasy album THE MONTGOMERY BROTHERS.) Instead of using a guitar pick, Montgomery plucked the strings with the fleshy part of his thumb, using downstrokes for single notes and a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes for chords and octaves. This technique enabled him to get a mellow, expressive tone from his guitar. George Benson, in the liner notes of the Ultimate Wes Montgomery album, wrote that "Wes had a corn on his thumb, which gave his sound that point. He would get one sound for the soft parts, and then that point by using the corn. That's why no one will ever match Wes. And his thumb was double- jointed. He could bend it all the way back to touch his wrist, which he would do to shock people."

Buddy Montgomery

Born: January 30, 1930

An Amazingly Talented Muscian, Arranger and Composer- His music has been described as, Lyrical and fluid, with a warmth and grace that's hard to resist. Composer and arranger, pianist and vibraphonist, Buddy Montgomery's musical career has spanned nearly half a century. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Buddy was the youngest in a family of musical siblings. He was motivated to pursue a musical career by his older brothers, Thomas, Monk and Wes. But it was his sister Lena's piano playing that inspired Buddy to play the piano. Thomas, who died in his teens, was a drummer; Monk, a bassist; and Wes, a guitarist. By the age of 18, Buddy was on the road with Big Joe Turner, a well-known blues singer

Jeff Hamilton

Born: August 4, 1953

Originality is what versatile drummer Jeff Hamilton brings to the groups he performs with and is one of the reasons why he is constantly in demand, whether he is recording or performing with his trio, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, the Clayton Brothers or co-leading the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Jeff’s recording, It’s Hamilton Time (Lake Street Records), received enormous airplay while reaching #5 on the Gavin national jazz radio chart. His trio’s second release, Jeff Hamilton Trio-LIVE! (MONS) was nominated by critics for best jazz recording in Germany in 1997. The trio’s second MONS release was entitled, Hands On

Med Flory

Born: August 27, 1926

Med Flory has enjoyed both a profitable music career and successful stints as a television and film writer and actor. His alto sax and clarinet work are deeply influenced by the classic bebop sound, notably the playing of Charlie Parker. Though he doesn't directly emulate Parker, Flory's sound, phrasing and approach reflect his reverence for his music. He played clarinet and alto with Claude Thornhill in the '50s, and tenor with Woody Herman. Flory formed his own New York band in 1954, then moved to the West Coast two years later. He organized a big band that performed at the inaugural Monterey concert in 1958

J.J. Johnson

Born: January 22, 1924

Considered by many to be the finest jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson somehow transferred the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to his more awkward instrument, playing with such speed and deceptive ease that at one time some listeners assumed he was playing valve (rather than slide) trombone! Johnson toured with the territory bands of Clarence Love and Snookum Russell during 1941-42 and then spent 1942-45 with Benny Carter's big band.

He made his recording debut with Carter (taking a solo on "Love for Sale" in 1943) and played at the first JATP concert (1944). Johnson also had led plenty of solo space during his stay with Count Basie's Orchestra (1945-46). During 1946-50, he played with all of the top bop musicians including Charlie Parker (with whom he recorded in 1947), the Dizzy Gillespie big band, Illinois Jacquet (1947-49) and the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool Nonet.His own recordings from the era included such sidemen as Bud Powell and a young Sonny Rollins. J.J., who also recorded with the Metronome All-Stars, played with Oscar Pettiford (1951) and Miles Davis (1952) but then was outside of music, working as a blueprint inspector for two years (1952-54).

2019: The Year in Jazz

by Ken Franckling
January 2, 2020

The year 2019 was robust in many ways. International Jazz Day brought its biggest stage to Australia. An important but long-shuttered jazz mecca was revived in a coast-to-coast move. ECM Records celebrated a golden year. The music and its makers figured prominently on the big screen. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA ...

Charlie Hunter with Lucy Woodward at the Jazz Kitchen

by Patrick Burnette
April 30, 2019

Charlie Hunter / Lucy Woodward Jazz Kitchen Indianapolis, Indiana April 24, 2019 Eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter's latest partnership is with vocalist Lucy Woodward, a firecracker with a strong sonic resemblance to Joan Osborne and an outgoing stage presence. For their performance at the Jazz Kitchen, the duo was joined by an ...

Shawn McGowan

Born: May 26, 1993

Shawn McGowan is an Indianapolis based pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger, and educator. Shawn studied at the Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of David N. Baker and Luke Gillespie, earning a B.A in Jazz Studies, a minor in instrumental and choral conducting, and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. In 2013, Shawn won first prize for Best Musical Score in the National Campus Movie Festival screened in Hollywood and Paris, France. From 2015- 2016 he served as the Associate Instructor of Jazz Piano for the Jacobs School of Music and as a piano instructor for the IU Young Pianists Program

Ernest Stuart: One Step Ahead

by Geno Thackara
April 26, 2017

It ain't exactly Rome, and it's not all roads, but many of them (especially in the jazz world) certainly seem to lead to Philadelphia. It's unavoidable for a city where the music has such deep roots (birthplace of Billie Holiday, home of John Coltrane, hangout of Dizzy Gillespie and Sun Ra among countless others), and it's ...