The eighth annual B’Town Jazz Fest brought local and nationally recognized musicians to Bloomington this weekend to celebrate the city’s jazz history and heritage. Garnering a largely older audience, jazz acts included IU’s senior lecturer Monika Herzig Acoustic Project with Janiece Jaffe and Luke Gillespie & IU Jazz Faculty Members.
The band Jazz Fables Quintet +1 with Michael Eaton brought new arrangements of jazz classics and modern tunes to the stage at 4 p.m. They played songs with upbeat, toe-tapping tempos and bubbly solos, while deep riffs and plucks from their bassist came through in a more profound, subtle way.
The band has six members: David Miller on trumpet; Tom Walsh playing saxophones; Michael Eaton on the tenor saxophone, who flew out from New York to play; Luke Gillespie on piano; Jeremy Allen on bass and Cami Mennitte Pererya on drums.
Some of their set list included songs such as “Jayne” by Ornette Coleman from 1958. Another song was a composition by Thelonius Monk titled “Misterioso” from 1957, which Miller described as “loose, but intriguing.” Its introduction consisted of a budding piano solo followed by the rest of the band’s instruments, and stabilized notes and sounds in the background kept some backing and grounding.
“Some great music just doesn’t get played enough,” Miller, the band’s trumpet player, said.
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