BLOOMINGTON – WFIU Public Radio and the Department of Jazz Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music are partnering to co-host Swing in September, a free outdoor concert series featuring a variety of musical acts from swing bands to jazz vocalists and more.
The concerts will be held every Friday in September at 6:30 p.m. in Dunn Meadow on the Indiana University campus. In the event of rain, the concerts will be moved indoors to Recital Hall.
The Swing in September lineup includes Sam Butler’s Folklore Sextet on September 2, Monika Herzig and Janiece Jaffe: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell on September 9, the Ana Nelson Quartet on September 16, Peter Lerner’s Soulbop Quartet on September 23, and Pinko. & A Few Good People on September 30.
The concerts will be emceed by WFIU hosts Mark Chilla, David Brent Johnson, and William Morris.
Swing in September is made possible with support from presenting sponsor Greene & Schultz Trial Lawyers, supporting sponsor IU Credit Union Investment Services, and contributing sponsor Crazy Horse.
For more information about Swing in September, click here.
About the artists:
Sam Butler is a master’s student at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and an associate instructor in the Jazz Studies Department. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Jacobs School of Music in 2022. During his time as an undergraduate, he was a semi-finalist in the Jazz Division of the 2019 and 2020 National Trumpet Competition. Butler has played with the Plummer Jazz Sextet, a select group of musicians that performs all original music. He has also recorded or performed a half dozen of his own large ensemble compositions and arrangements with various ensembles. In early 2022, Butler released Spoken Thoughts, an album of all original compositions he performed with his sextet. His music focuses on blending styles of jazz with folk, rock, and funk, with the ultimate goal of creating beautiful and memorable melodies and improvisations.
Jazz pianist Monika Herzig earned her doctorate in music education with minor fields in jazz studies at Indiana
University, where she is a faculty member in arts administration. She is the author of David Baker: A Legacy in Music and Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion. Groups under her leadership have toured the world and opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, Dixie Dregs, and more. Her awards include a 1994 DownBeat Magazine Award for Best Original Song and a 2015 Jazz Journalist Association Hero Award. Her project SHEROES with the world’s leading female jazz instrumentalists was featured on NPR’s Here & Now and named one of the best releases of 2018 in DownBeat Magazine.
Janiece Jaffe has recorded 11 albums and can be heard as a guest vocalist on more than 25 other recordings. During her career, Jaffe has written lyrics to the music of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Freddie Hubbard. She has also been a lyricist with composers Marcos Cavalcante (Standing on the Edge), Monika Herzig, David Ward Steinman, and Curtis Cantwell Jackson. Jaffe, along with harpist Amy Camie, produced companion music for the book The Atlantean Legacy by Paula Bates. She has also created three meditation CDs: The Lotus and the Rose, Heartones, and Fire in the Lotus.
Ana Nelson is a clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer/arranger known for her multi-genre diversity in jazz, classical, and Latin jazz styles. Nationally, she has been recognized as an up-and-coming young artist with a unique musical and compositional voice. Nelson has performed and recorded with artists such as Michael Spiro, Bootsy Collins, and the NelBap Duo with Aruban pianist Jamaal Baptiste. Nelson’s awards include the 2020 Earl Hines Outstanding Soloist Award presented by Wynton Marsalis at the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship and the 2021 Presser Graduate Award from Indiana University to record her debut album of original compositions entitled Bridges.
Peter Lerner earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Chicago’s American Conservatory of Music and has been working as a professional musician, composer, and recording artist ever since. Lerner continues to study jazz, composition, and improvisation and is currently enrolled as a master’s student at IU’s Jacobs School of Music seeking a composition degree in jazz studies. As a versatile guitarist, he has performed with Gladys Knight, Bootsy Collins, Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band, The Fifth Dimension, and blues harpist Sugar Blue, among others. Lerner has also played on tracks featuring B.B. King, Patti LaBelle, and BB & Cee Cee Wynan. As a jazz guitarist, he has performed with Ramsey Lewis, Lee Konitz, and many other notable artists. Some of Lerner’s albums include the critically acclaimed Cry for Peace and Continuation produced by Robert Irving III, who collaborated with Miles Davis for nine years.
Pinko & A Few Good People is a collective of eclectic backgrounds headed by Indianapolis native and drummer, composer, and producer Kimeon “Pinko” Sumler. Sumler features a roster of Indianapolis’s and Bloomington’s finest up-and-coming musicians. Performing original music written by Pinko., the band takes you on a musical journey of stories, emotions, and good-for-the-soul vibes. Building on the influences of Cory Henry, Robert Glasper, Butcher Brown, Chris Dave, and The Drumhedz, as well as Christian Scott, the band’s flavor, is a fusion of jazz, R&B, funk, gospel, hip hop, and more.
