Outside Indy Jazz Fest

There are some activities for jazz lovers that take place away from the Indy Jazz Fest site at Military Park. One of them takes place Thursday at “Concerts on the Canal” presented by the Indiana Historical Society. Director of jazz studies Jack Gilfoy will lead IUPUI Jazz Ensembles in a celebration to start the weekend’s Indy Jazz Fest. This concert runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free except for reserved table seating. Tables of four are $20, $15 for IHS members. Tables of eight are $30, $25 for IHS members.

Friday, June 17 before the official start of the Indy Jazz Fest, master trombonist/composer Slide Hampton will present an open-to-the-public, free jazz workshop at the Junior Achievement auditorium at 71st and Keystone Avenue, Gene Glick Center, from 4 to 5 p.m.

The Jazz Hang, or Afterset

When the stages go dark at the Indy Jazz Fest, each night the music doesn’t stop for some jazz musicians and staunch jazz fans. That’s when the magic of a rich jazz tradition, the jam session or the Hang, takes place. Indy’s two full-time jazz clubs, the Chatterbox and the Jazz Kitchen, take full advantage of honoring the after-hours jazz tradition among musicians and fans.

The owners of both clubs have different approaches to presenting their jam sessions. Chatterbox owner David Andrichik says, “We are noted for our late-night weekend jazz presentations of local jazz artists. By design we have scheduled jazz groups on Friday and Saturday that are flexible for any visiting or local musicians that want to sit in. We have noted over the years a sizeable increase in the crowd after Indy Jazz Fest closes for the night.” The fact that music doesn’t start at the Chatterbox until 10:30 p.m. and goes to 2 a.m. makes it an ideal after-hours stop for any jazz fan.

David Allee, owner of the Jazz Kitchen, likes to draw big-name jazz groups playing Indy Jazz Fest to sit in with selected local artists for a night of jamming. “The first Indy Jazz Fest, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band jammed the night away. We have had the YellowJackets, Fourplay, Nicholas Payton, Jimmy Smith and Slide Hampton, just to mention a few visiting jazz names, light things up on our stage with our local guys.”

The Jazz Kitchen normally has jazz sets at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., but for Indy Jazz Fest weekend, Allee admits times are flexible.

Aftersets are very informal among musicians but can become very exciting and heated as musical ideas are exchanged. Many a legendary jam session has taken place in these clubs and are still recalled with a reverence by those jazz fans lucky enough to have been on hand.