BOOKS, MOVIES & MUSIC

I've been listening to the Jump Cats CD, Jump Cats, and I would dearly love to one day be able to mimic the harmonica part on track 8, "Buzz Me Blues."  But I'm a sub-novice on the harp, and it'll probably never happen, but it's fun (mostly) trying.  The trumpet part is out of the question--besides the other technical skills I lack, my lip (a.k.a. my "embouchure"-- painful to spell, painful to play and hear a trumpet without it) won't last for more than a simple 20-bar Methodist hymn book entry.  Oh well, while these folks are infinitely better musicians than I'll ever be, they are a very locally-based group, and one of the members wrote a little essay (part of which appears below) for the back page of the Jump Cats liner notes that I believe speaks beautifully for all such bands, wherever they live.

Okay--it wasn't even my idea.  I'm just a guy they recruited to play sax.  But I thought you might want to hear at least one version of the Jump Cats story.  See, we are one of those bands where we all have day jobs, other hobbies, dogs, and a bunch of kids.  Heck, a couple guys even have a bunch of kids on their own.  We got pieced together like a lot of bands do.  Tim wanted to start something up.  He and Steve had been playing together for years so that was automatic.  Tim and Steve both knew Randy and Tim knew Rene.  Rene knew me and I knew Carl.  Rene knew somebody who knew Tony and I think Tony knew John.  John and Rene knew Diane.  Yeh -- that was it.  Most of us are journeymen (and women) of music and other things that society might classify as performing arts.  This is a band that has played everywhere from somebody's living room to Victory Field and viewed both gigs pretty much the same way . . . a chance to play.  See, part of the essence of being in this band is doing so with the full knowledge that on any given day the activities related to rehearsing, performing, and hauling equipment from your basement to kingdom come may be just about enough to push our spouses over the edge.  But while we ourselves are at a loss to explain it, somehow we remain compelled by forces from within to keep making music.  And with all the stuff that life throws at us . . . at home . . . at work . . . it has to be some sort of certifiable miracle that we have held the band together for these few years -- much less managed to record a fairly hip CD.  Anyway, this CD was recorded in the middle of Tim's home improvement project on his back porch where the chimney had once fallen in and broken the floor joists.  But that was a long time along. . . .  Anyway, what I thought somebody should tell you is that this music is a mixture of fun and dreams and sweat and stress and ego and a whole bunch of other stuff we can't quite explain.  Hope you like it. --John Kansky

The Jump Cats are Tim Miannan, Diane Boehm, Rene Mulligan, Steve Povalac, Carl Hayes, Randy Ayers, John Kansky, Tony Schafer, and John Stobaugh. 

See http://www.jumpcats.com/.

Ever been to house concert?  I have, now. Last Sunday evening, we saw three of the five members of a group called The Brains Behind Pa (http://www.billprice.info/brains/) play live . . . at someone's house!  Based on that experience and my perusal of postings on a local Yahoo! Group I'm a member of called Indy Folk News (See http://www.indyfolknews.org/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indyfolknews/), it appears that the Wikipedia bulleted points following the brief definition of a house party as "a concert that's presented in someone's home, or a nearby private space, for example a barn or back yard" are a very good summary of the potential elements:

·  Usually, but not always, the audience capacity is smaller than at a coffeehouse or club.

·  The money collected usually (but not always) goes straight to the performers, with no "profit motive" on the presenter's part.

·  Often, but not always, house concerts are conducted "by invitation" (for practical reasons), rather than as "public" concerts like a club or concert hall.

·  Often - again with exceptions - there is little or no "sound system" - performers play and sing acoustically, unless someone needs a little amp for their keyboard.

·  Refreshments, if any, are usually either a "pot luck" brought by the listeners, or provided by the hosts using a bit of the gate receipts.

·  Sometimes - but definitely not always - the performers get a meal and/or lodging with the presenters as part of their compensation. 

 Sometimes performances called house concerts are hosted at places other than a private home.  Locally, consider the Indy Hostel House Concert Series http://www.indyhostel.us/events/index.html, for instance.

How did Highland Reign, a Celtic band from Indianapolis, manage to get my eighteen-year-old son (a guitar player himself, whose favorite band is AC/DC) and my fifteen-year-old daughter (who normally prefers something like "Concrete Girl" by Switchfoot ) to not only listen to the group's Back Where We Started CD but admit to me that they liked it?  Well, ok, I had them trapped in the car the first time they heard it, but after that my son actually asked to borrow it ("They've got some good guitar licks.") and my daughter put it on to play while dealing with house cleaning chores—and you’ve really got to like a disc to choose it for coping with that.

I saw the band play in a little neighborhood family restaurant/tavern that has since gone out of business, sad to say, but Highland Reign is still going strong, with both local and overseas gigs (see their schedule at http://www.highlandreign.com/index.cfm). The library also owns Highland Reign’s Caught in the Reign.

I purchased a copy of Silver Lady and the Wild Stallion several years ago, after reading announcements in the paper from time to time about Pat Webb performances here and there.  The winter before last, I think it was, I learned that Pat was appearing every other Friday (or something like that) at a little pizza place in Nashville, Indiana called Harvest Moon, and my wife and I resolved to go hear him one evening.

What a treat!  Not only was the music great, but because business was slow, and those who did wander in seemed to be paying little attention to Pat and his guitar, I guess it was obvious that Julia and I were there more for the entertainment than the food; and between sets he'd wander over and chat with us.  A fascinating fellow, musically and otherwise.

I bought another CD (one not in the library's collection as yet) and he signed it, and there was a flyer there that I've held on to that has a discography and some glowing review blurbs from various publications inside and outside of Indiana, and this heading that says it all: "Everywhere from bust-out joints to major concert halls since 1948!"

Our Journey Continues is a good sampler from the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus which they recorded a couple of years ago.  For the most part it’s not from their holiday repertoire, but the holiday performance in December kicks off each concert season for the Indianapolis Men's Chorus, and by now it's become an annual tradition for my wife and me.  In fact, a holiday performance was the first time we saw them, and we were delighted that so much beautiful, professional-quality choral music could be enjoyed for such affordable ticket prices.

Another thing that makes this group such a pleasure to hear are some of the venues in which they play.  We have now experienced IMC holiday shows at Old Centrum (though its use is currently suffering from financial difficulties) and the Broadway United Methodist Church , both historic structures that envelop the audience and the singers in the perfect ambiance for such a program.

The Chorus performs at other places, too, and this spring they'll be at Anderson High School Auditorium and also at Ransburg Auditorium on the campus of the University of Indianapolis, which is very convenient for us Indianapolis southsiders!  See http://www.indychoruses.org/imc/about.htm for more information about the Chorus and for dates and locations for the rest of the 2007-2008 concert season.