Bloomington celebrates a legend

It was four nights of a time-honored tradition celebrating a legend who grew up in Bloomington. Hoagy Carmichael, a composer and musician, connected with a variety of artists around the world and crossed many musical realms of his and our times. He hosted his own television show, "The Saturday Night Review," worked with lyricists Johnny Mercer, Frank Loesser and Mitchell Parish, and wrote "Georgia On My Mind," "Rockin' Chair" and "Lazy River. Carmichael died in 1981, but he lives on as a legend in music and film.\nThis year's festival honoring the local artist offered a variety of \nperformances from the jazz sounds of local \nKwijibo to songs by a young jazz artist to a full symphony performance. It was an event that amazed one and all with endless talent and gave the pleasure of just relaxing into the music and tapping your feet to the rhythms. \nOn the first night of the Hoagy Carmichael Festival, audiences enjoyed the jazz music of local talented artists. It started with the Stardusters Swing Band led by Jerry Jerome with Karl Sturbaum and Sarah Flint. Then Monika \nHerzig performed a Tribute to Women in Jazz, which featured special guests Cathy Morris on the violin and Ariel Alexander on saxes.\nEven the sounds of faculty graced the stage in the next song led by David Baker along with five other faculty members. The sextet featured Pat Harbison on trumpet, Tom Walsh on saxes, Luke Gillespie on piano, Bruce Bransby on bass and Steve Houghton on drums. Each player of this sextet added his own flare to the songs the group played. After the intermission came the acoustic modern jazz combo of group Ut Haus. Next in the program was Dominic Spera and the Hoagy All-Stars with featured artists Dave Pavolka and Dennis Riggins. To end the program, the '70s infused sounds of Kwijibo played late into the night. \nFriday night's performance presented rising jazz musician and Billboard hit maker Peter Cincotti. Even before he entered the stage, there was an eager anticipation throughout the audience, which included a range from college students to elderly men and women who were all there to enjoy Peter Cincotti's romantic voice and captivating piano sounds. His accompaniment included drums, bass and a saxophone, which added the jazzy feel behind each song. But it was not only his music the to which audience was attracted, it was also his warm affectionate smile on his face. Cincotti interacted with the audience by being humble and very humorous.\nWithin his performance, Cincotti played songs he composed and delighted the audience with a little tribute to Carmichael by singing "Georgia on My Mind." Throughout the performance, he had the audience's attention, and each of his songs was whole-heartedly played and sung. In the end, audience members stood, applauded and cheered for his breath-taking performance, which inspired him to take the stage for two additional encores. The audience was so drawn to his talent as a jazz artist that it could not let him leave the stage.\nSenior Liz Burg said it was the best performance she had ever seen.\n"He is very young but has impeccable stage presence and really gets along with his band," Burg said.\nSara Hinkle, a doctoral candidate, said she saw a rising star with potential in Cincotti.\n"I simply thought the concert was fabulous, and he played smooth music and was just simply a great interactor with the audience," Hinkle said. "He definitely opened me up to a new style of music, and after tonight, I definitely would consider myself a fan."\nBut to Cincotti, rising jazz singer, pianist and songwriter, it was an honor to play that night and be able to display his talents for a festival that remembers a legend. He said he only hopes to one day be as great as the legend being honored and to reach jazz music to a younger generation.\n"I would have to say my influences in becoming a jazz musician were musicians like Hoagy Carmichael, Ray Charles and Miles Davis," Cincotti said. "Each one of those performers loved to do what they do, and so do I. I love playing music, and I love being on stage in front of an audience." \nOn the third night of the Hoagy Carmichael Festival, The Bloomington POPS took the stage with only an elite section of the orchestra. The group was directed by Professor of Music Stephen Pratt. Along with the jazz orchestra came featured appearances by Spera and a vocal accompaniment by Angela Mannino and Michael Schwarzkopf.\nThe last night of the festival consisted of a whole day of movies about Carmichael's influence on Hollywood. The featured movies were "Here Comes the Groom," the television documentary "Hoagy" and "Johnny Angel." The films showed Carmichaels montage of skills as he went from writing, playing and singing jazz music to acting. The performance by Cincotti was a memorable tribute to Carmichael, but the love of his fans and movies revealed how much Carmichael meant to so many people.