Jazz ensemble soars with crowd
By Manny Casillas | Editorial Assistant
Unlike their mythical namesake, The Icarus Ensemble is far from the point of falling as evidence by their thrilling performance at the University of Indianapolis Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center.
The Ensemble, composed of Peter Hansen; bass, Dean Franke; violin, Gary Walters; piano, Mark Ortwein; saxophone and Jo Crabiel; drums, played a tight and world-influenced set to a packed house consisting of students, faculty and patrons. There were many in the crowd left standing due to the filled seats.
“[The atmosphere was] nice and intimate…enthusiastic. Really diverse…some people seemed like they listened to a lot of jazz, and other people were really novice listeners. There were elderly folks, middle-aged folks and students, so a nice mix,” said bass player Franke.
“We play concerts often, in various venues and everybody will be the same age and same lifestyle, but here you just reach a broader demographic,” Walters explained.
The night began with the song titled ‘Icarus’, which consisted of Ortwein’s wistful sax, Franke’s subtly powerful violin and Crabiel’s steady, yet thunderous drums.
The band then segued into a sort of second song, transitioning with Walters’ gentle piano.
Then there was ‘Buffalo Shuffle-O,’ a brand new tune written by Hansen that starts with a cacophonous, but cohesive pronouncement of all instruments involved before settling into a Henry Mancini-like tone.
Midway through, Franke gave off a stupendously rigorous violin riff that gave way to a lovely piano lilt by Walters that then transcended into a smooth, yet irresistible solo before going back into its original setting.
Crabiel’s crackling drum fills pounded beautifully, it was unforgettable.
Jazz standards were not the only order of the night, as the band brought in many world elements that gave the show a different flavor altogether.
This was most evident in the number ‘Pepperoni Grande con Queso Mas (Large Pepperoni with Cheese)’, so immediately Walters’ piano descended into that Spanish rhythm as Crabiel broke in with rapturous drumming. It all culminated in a beat solo that went from big to small, and back to big, then back to small, then back to the band. Wherever he is, Tito Puente is smiling.
“I feel that we are at the very beginning of this, I feel like there’s a lot of gold mine there [as far as world flavors],” Franke said.
Then there was the haunting, yet touching number called ‘A.N.T.O.G.’, Walters’ substitute name for any untitled song. It went from beautiful piano bars to a sweetly infectious melody. From there came ‘Wood Waltz’, which Hansen explained has its origins mired in his music theory class from long ago. The song evokes sort of fairy tale atmosphere, as well as a harmony that bears a melancholic feeling of incompletion that ends at just the right time. It leaves listeners wanting so much more each time it’s heard, but in a good way.
Then the band took a little break by opening the floor for questions from the audience. They asked such questions as how long they have been playing together, but the main thing people wanted to know was whether they had a cd available or not.
They then went back into the show with ‘Widow’s Walk’, a mournful tune wrapped in a melancholic bassoon and violin trade-off that then erupts in passionate piano, before settling again into a violin solo. They finally ended with two numbers that paid tribute to a group called Oregon, whom Hansen invoked twice.
The Icarus Ensemble will next play a show at Butler University, and continue to try and fit the production of a CD into their busy schedules.
