Submitted photo The bluesy Gordon Bonham, well known to local audiences, is part of the The Blue Side jazz ensemble performing downtown today.
A big boost of jazz gets a dose of the blues today as the new, free JazzIN Columbus Concert Series launches at 5:30 p.m. outdoors on the east end of Fourth Street downtown with an all-star group called The Blue Side.
But area organizers of that genre of performances are doing anything but singing the blues.
Because all that jazz is, well, all that right now locally.
The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation and The Columbus Museum of Art & Design are sponsoring the series, with support from the Office of Downtown Development.
Brown County resident Steve Allee, perhaps the dean of Hoosier jazz artists, and one given credit for some of the genre’s growing success in central and south central Indiana, sees one basic and simple element of the boom.
“Columbus has been hungry for live jazz performances, and the energy it brings to our community right in our backyard,” said the Brown County resident.
Columbus’ Warren Ward, who has worked off and on through the years as a concert booker and producer, figured there was such a hunger a few years ago — and especially after a 2020 Columbus Indiana Philharmonic community survey showing respondents were happy with orchestral, Broadway and other concerts, but wanted to see jazz added to the mix.
“Jazz was way up on their list of requests,” said Donnie Robinette, the Philharmonic executive director.
With the Philharmonic’s approval, Ward launched the now-highly-successful Jazz at Helen’s series at Helen Haddad Hall downtown in January 2023 with Allee. The series expanded to summer dates recently and generally sells out its 96-seat capacity.
Adding to that successful presence is even more similar scheduling: WFIU Radio’s Jazz in July free concert at 7 p.m. Friday with the Al Cobine Big Band at the Bartholomew County Library Plaza. WFIU organizers had talked with Ward last year about the possible success of such a performance here.
“I think that all of this,” Ward said, “is definitely a step in the right direction.”
And one without competition, since Ward is friends with former Columbus resident David Westenberger, vice president of the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation.
“Three years ago, we started to think about more outreach,” Westenberger said, adding that reaching those who would love jazz if they were presented with it remains a prime goal.
Westenberger, a pilot, began hosting informal, Sunday afternoon private jazz parties at his Columbus Municipal Airport hangar ab0ut three years ago. Attendance has grown from 80 people there to as many as 180. At the last such gathering in the spring, attendees donated to help make the JazzIN Columbus series happen.
“That has been totally an organic, grass-roots kind of movement,” Westenberger said of the parties and the series. “Our goal now with the series is just to help new people experience jazz.”
And to appreciate the genre’s broad diversity, he added. That explains why the next JazzIN Columbus concert Aug. 14 features both a traditional and fusion-oriented Allee and Magic Hour Band and then the Latin Jazz of Pavel and Direct Contact, recently a big hit at Jazz at Helen’s.
Jan Banister, president of the board for the Columbus Museum of Art and Design and a longtime local musician and lover of all musical styles, said one other element is driving the jazzy joy.
“We all know that the continuing buzzword around here is ‘Let’s find more ways to activate the downtown,’” Banister said.
At the new series today, Swine & Dine will provide bar service, according to organizers.
“In a city known for its world-class architecture,” Westenberger said, “it’s exciting to now see more world-class musicians in Columbus highlighting another form of the arts.”
About the concert
What: JazzIN Columbus series kickoff with The Blue Side.
When: 5:30 p.m. today
Where: The east side of Fourth Street in the Ovation Technology Group parking lot
Admission: Free.
Information: Facebook page for JazzIN Columbus Concert Series: The Blue Side
