Concert Whirlwind

Tonight is a very special, very beautiful night. For the first time in weeks, I have nothing specific to do. I don’t have to go to class. I don’t have any rehearsals. Don’t get me wrong—I love all the bands I’m in, and I will almost never turn down the opportunity to play music with other musicians (it’s the only way to communicate on the deepest, most satisfying level I have ever experienced, and I won’t miss that for the world). But every once in a while it’s nice to take a break.

And so I chill. I listen to James Brown, the O’Jays, the Temptations, and various other players with major soul power. I drink some English Breakfast Tea, and I contemplate the delightful whirlwind of concerts that is about to descend on me. The Saxophone Cartel, a jazz group made up entirely of saxophones, is playing on October 20 at Tutto Bene, a fancy restaurant in Bloomington, from 8–11 p.m. Most of the tunes we are playing are arrangements that have been done before, but at the last rehearsal, each one of us brought in a new arrangement, so there will be new material too (including my arrangement of “If You Could See Me Now”).

The next big band concert is only a couple days later, on the 24. It will once again be in the Musical Arts Center, and it starts at 8 p.m. We are playing a concerto for violin written by David Baker. Paul Biss, an amazing violinist and IU faculty member, will be the featured soloist. I never knew there were concertos for soloists and big bands until we got the music a week ago, and though I was a little skeptical at first, I have since come to love the unique colors and ideas that can be expressed with this slightly odd instrumentation. Of course, Paul Biss can be counted on to give a phenomenal performance, and I think that the concert will be a great event.

My first combo concert is the very next night at 8:30 in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. The Ben Fowler Four (that’s our name) will be playing three tunes, including “Alice In Wonderland” and a ballad I wrote a couple months ago called “Kizmet.” The group’s main concepts are freedom and communication, which means that anything could happen at the concert. It should be very exciting.