The sounds of New Orleans will ring in a new year of jazz at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at Bear’s Place. Returning for its first weekly concert of 2020, the Jazz Fables Concert Series will present Hot Jazz for a Cool Night featuring local jazz group the B-Town Bearcats.
The eight-piece ensemble is comprised of Mike Lucas on piano, Jack Shelton on trumpet, Bill James on clarinet, Danny Hughey on trombone, Robin Hopkins on banjo, Phil Sloffer on tuba, John Valdez on drums and Kathleen Miller on vocals.
The Jazz Fables Concert Series is a weekly jazz show at Bear’s Place at 5:30 p.m. every Thursday. Each concert features performances by national and local jazz musicians, often including students, alumni and staff of the Jacobs School of Music.
The Bearcats will play traditional jazz pieces by artists such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and Hoagy Carmichael as well as classic jazz-age charts from the 1920s.
The following Thursday, Jan. 16, the Al Cobine Big Band directed by Lucas will honor the work of Al Cobine a composer, big band leader and Indiana native. Its performance will showcase music arranged by Cobine and composed by artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Neal Hefti.
The Al Cobine Big Band includes Pat Harbison, Travis Higgins, Phil May and Jeff Parker on trumpet; Tom Meyer, Randy Salman, Tom Walsh, Tom Clark and Sam Bortka on saxophone; Rich Dole, Bette Lucas and Dave Shank on trombone; Peter Kienle on bass, John Valdez on drums and Rachel Caswell on vocals.
Tickets for Hot Jazz for a Cool Night will be $9 for general admission and $7 for students at the door. Tickets for the Al Cobine tribute will be $10 for general admission and $8 for students upon entry.
