Michael Loves Indy

David Allee wears many hats: club owner, musician, music producer, and community non-profit leader, to name a few. As the owner of the Jazz Kitchen for nearly 30 years and as the Director of Indy Jazz Fest for over a decade, David has helped to curate literally thousands of jazz performances in Indianapolis by national and regional artists. The Jazz Kitchen has received multiple “Best 100 Jazz Clubs in the World” by Downbeat Magazine, and its sonics and ambience have inspired dozens of artists to record live albums in the venue. David, along with jazz artist/community leader Rob Dixon, re-energized the Indy Jazz Fest over a decade ago, and has continued to grow the Fest and the Indy Jazz Foundation, “to preserve the legacy and promote the future of jazz in Indianapolis.” David and I had a conversation in 2022 about his life, what inspired him to start the Jazz Kitchen, and his vision for preserving and growing Indianapolis’ rich jazz history.

Michael’s friend Dave Tucker returns to the Michael Loves Indy podcast, for a discussion of his and Michael’s favorite music of 2023 and early 2024.

Oreo Jones (aka Sean Michael Smith) is not only one of Indianapolis’ biggest musical success stories of the last decade, he is one of Indianapolis’ most influential cultural leaders. He is a prolific musical artist, recording as Oreo Jones, Michael Raintree, as a band member of White Moms, and as part of the hip-hop supergroup 81355 ('“Bless”). He is Staff Artist and Musical Curator at Big Car and at WQRT Radio. He is co-founder of Chreece Festival, which celebrates another year on August 26, 2023 in Fountain Square in Indianapolis. I was honored to spend time with Sean, to hear more about his life, his approach to creativity and community, and the origins of Chreece. Hope you enjoy what I found to be an inspiring conversation with Oreo Jones.

When Josh Baker started out, he just just wanted to share great music with his friends. He could not have predicted that 20 years later, he would be widely considered one of the biggest single influences on Indianapolis arts and culture. Josh has owned and/or operated many music related businesses since 2000, a record label, a record manufacturer/distributor, a music festival company, multiple music venues, a digital marketing company, and now, restaurants. He has launched the careers of young Indianapolis artists, attracted hundreds of national and international music artists to perform in Indianapolis, and even transformed public spaces like Garfield Park into national music venues. I hope you enjoy this discussion about Josh’s life in music, and about the potential he sees for Indianapolis to grow its music identity and music economy. (Note: this episode is dedicated to Josh’s and my friend Brent Warnecke, who passed away this week.)

Chris Douglas wears many hats: business owner, civic leader, community advocate, and others. Chris is founding partner and managing director of C.H. Douglas and Gray Wealth Management. An eighth generation Hoosier, he earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and his Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He was decorated for his service as an officer in the US Air Force and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. His many business honors include the IBJ Forty Under 40 honors, and Indianapolis Monthly’s Five-Star Wealth Managers honor every year for 15 consecutive years. He has been active in politics and philanthropy for many years, known as an advocate for LGBTQ rights, for public education, and for the arts. I hope you enjoy this conversation about Chris’ life, his leadership experiences, and his work to make Indiana a better place for all people.

Isaiah J. Thompson is a finalist for the 2023 American Pianists Association (APA) Jazz Competition. Isaiah is a jazz pianist, composer and bandleader from West Orange, New Jersey. He began studying at The Calderone School of Music at an early age, and soon after continued his studies with Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s from The Juilliard School, was awarded the 2018 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award and earned Second Place in the 2018 Thelonious Monk (now Herbie Hancock) Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. Isaiah has since performed with major artists including Ron Carter, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Steve Turre and Buster Williams. He was featured on the Golden Globe-nominated soundtrack for "Motherless Brooklyn" and was named a Steinway Artist. Isaiah made his recording debut on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records’ release, “Handful of Keys” with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and he released his debut album as a leader, "Isaiah J. Thompson Plays the Music of Buddy Montgomery" in 2020.

Thomas Linger is a finalist for the 2023 American Pianists Association (APA) Jazz Piano Competition. Thomas is a New York City-based pianist, originally hailing from Waynesville, North Carolina. Winner of the American Jazz Pianist Competition in 2017, he graduated with a degree in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2015. Since that time, he has worked as a performer, composer, and teacher, having performed in some of the most prestigious venues such as the Village Vanguard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy's Club, Smalls, Mezzrow and many more.

Thomas leads his own trio in addition to engagements alongside current luminaries such as Peter Bernstein, Francisco Mela, Joe Farnsworth, Yasushi Nakamura, Stacy Dillard, Sylvia Cuenca, Brandon Lee, and many others. Thomas's debut album Out In It is fantastic, and features many of his original compositions, released on Cellar Records August 2022.

Dave Tucker returns to the program, to discuss some of his and Michael’s favorite songs of 2022-2023.

Caelan Cardello is one of America’s most accomplished young jazz pianists, and he is a finalist for the 2023 American Pianists Awards, Born into a musical household in Teaneck, New Jersey, Caelan Cardello began playing piano at the age of five. He was a part of the organization Jazz House Kids for seven years, where he learned from the greatest jazz masters and performed at venues such as Dizzy’s Club and the Montclair Jazz Festival. Caelan has also performed at venues in NYC such as Smoke Jazz Club and The Jazz Standard, as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival and Bahrain Jazz Festival. Other accolades include 2021 winner of the BMI Foundation’s Future Jazz Master award, 2018 recipient of the prestigious James Moody Scholarship, winner for regional National YoungArts, and 2016–17 All State Jazz Band pianist. Caelan recently finished his Jazz Performance degree at William Paterson University. I hope you enjoy this inspiring conversation about Caelan’s life and approach to music.

Arianna Cruz is the founder of MORE Magazine, Making Opportunities Reachable for Everyone, a publication that works to educate and inspire its readers and call them to action in their communities. She graduated first-generation from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in 2018 with a Bachelors in Marketing and International Studies with minors in Communication and Economics. Arianna is currently serving as the Director of Marketing and Outreach at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. Arianna is making a positive impact on Indianapolis at a young age, and I hope you find this conversation inspiring.