Ashton Kleeman first started playing jazz music because it allowed him to improvise with his instrument, not because he wanted to make a sing-a-long rock album.
"Jazz is not about how cool you are or about selling your clothing line, it's about how good you can play," Kleeman said.
Kleeman, a senior math and secondary education major. will bring his style of refreshing live music at two shows Saturday and Sunday with the rest of his group that performs under the moniker The Third Greatest. Saturday's performance will be at Doc's Music Hall, where they have shows every Saturday starting at 8 p.m., and again Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Library.
Fronted by sophomore political science major and saxophone player Evan Drybread, the six-person group was formed this summer when the band got together to play at the Indiana State Fair. It was there that the band's name was formed.
"We wanted something other than just the Ball State Jazz Ensemble, so The Third Greatest is what we went with," keyboardist Kleeman said.
The group's name is a play on two of Miles Davis's former jazz groups: the 1st and 2nd Greatest Miles Davis Quintets. Some of the members of the band like to categorize their sound as progressive jazz.
"We use an electric piano and electric bass, which lets us stray away from traditional jazz music," Drybread said. "Jazz is almost a bad term for the genre, because it's so broad."
Their music also has elements from different genres in it, sophomore music technology major Kevin Miller said.
"There are elements of rock and funk in our music, which would fall under the genre of progressive jazz," he said.
A few members in the band grew up with jazz, while others picked it up in high school out of curiosity.
"My dad was a jazz bass player, so I was exposed at a pretty early age to a lot of jazz music," Drybread said.
Another member of the group, sophomore music technology major and bass player Sean Muzzi, said he picked up jazz one summer while in high school.
"I always wanted to improvise with my instruments in high school, but that was usually frowned upon," he said.
He said it wasn't until he took a summer program at the Berklee College of Music that he started to appreciate jazz.
"That really opened my eyes," Muzzi said.
Kleeman also picked up jazz in high school.
"It's much more fun to play because of the improvisations. There are a lot of intricacies in jazz," he said.
The band gets their inspiration from several different jazz musicians. Artists such as Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and John Coltrane are some of the more prominent influences.
Miller said he prefers to play at bars when they have the chance.
"Jazz evolved in bars and nightclubs," Miller said. "It became spontaneous and the people really listen in those situations."
Trombone player and junior economics and philosophy major Vivek Hadley said he also prefers performing in that type of setting.
"I would also say we're more comfortable in bars," Hadley said. "We play pretty loud and with a lot of energy."
Kleeman said the unpredictability of jazz music is what makes it so endearing in a live setting.
"With jazz, there is an atmosphere to every song. Jazz is a place for atmosphere, everyone who is at the show is in the music and is a part of it," he said.
Those who expect to see the same show every night will be surprised by the amount of variety the band puts into their songs, Drybread said.
"What I really like is the fact that we could play the exact same set of songs on two different nights, and it would be two totally different shows," he said.
The Third Greatest
What: Performances at 8 p.m. every Saturday at Doc's Music Hall; 2 p.m. this Sunday at the Kennedy Library
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
