Jazz orchestra ‘stardusts’ memory of Hoagy’s legacy

The tribute to Hoagy Carmichael on Saturday at KRC Catering was a jazzy dinner dance.

There was a buffet – not included with the ticket price – and dance lessons, in addition to music by the Stardusters Jazz Orchestra.

Jerry Jerome, leader of the Stardusters, said the Buskirk-Chumley Theater started the tribute five years ago, but dropped it after two years because of a decrease in interest. Jazz from Bloomington, a not-for-profit organization, then picked it up.

This is the third year that Jazz from Bloomington has done this event and the first year the Stardusters was the band.

“I hit the guy in charge in the head with a hammer and said that he had to hire us,” Jerome said.

Jerome said there was another band, but his group was more in tune with the room because they were smaller in size. He said Stardusters is a big-band sound from a group of 11 people.

This year the Stardusters started getting ready around 6:45 p.m., but they didn’t start playing until 7:45 p.m. The reason was the small audience attendance, but throughout the performance people still trickled in.

Carolyn Dutton, vice president of Jazz from Bloomington, said she was expecting more people to attend. In her introduction to the audience, she said everyone needed to learn the foxtrot.

Barbara Leininger, owner of the Arthur Murray Studio, and her instructors gave dance lessons before the show and during breaks. She said that she and Jerome do this sort of thing all of the time.

“It kind of gets people up that probably wouldn’t have danced before,” she said.
Many different age groups came to the performance. There was a group of Girl Scouts and groups of elderly couples.

The Girl Scouts were asked to the front of the room at one point, and they helped keep the beat for the band in recognition for earning their music badges.
Jerome said Carmichael, the man of honor, was a native of Bloomington in the late 1800s and is buried downtown.

“His music is a whole different generation, even before me, but it’s classic,” Leininger added. “It’s the kind of music that I think can speak to many different generations.”