Jazz With Friends – A Benefit Concert
Join us for “Jazz With Friends,” an afternoon of live jazz in support of Indianapolis First Friends Meeting. This celebration features the Eric Baker Jazz Combo, a talented jazz ensemble for your musical enjoyment, with proceeds benefiting First Friends church and ministries. Come enjoy smooth tunes, good company and a meaningful cause.
· When: Sunday, May 18, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
· Where: First Friends Meeting, 3030 Kessler Boulevard East Drive, Indianapolis
· Tickets: $15 each, tax-deductible.*
Purchase admission here!
Eric Baker Jazz Combo Musicians
Pianist and singer Eric Baker has been performing live music regularly around central Indiana for more than 20 years, both as a soloist and as a member of multiple ensembles. In addition to playing with several rock, pop and blues bands, he has performed with big bands and combos at the Jazz Kitchen and the Chatterbox Jazz Club, and curates the “Eric Baker and Friends” music series at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. Eric is the music director at Indianapolis First Friends Meeting.
Bassist Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Bass Artist and Grammy Music Educator Award finalist. She was the jazz director at Noblesville High School for 19 years, where she earned recognition as Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, Noblesville Teacher of the Year and Indiana Teacher of the Year semi-finalist. In addition to performing with musicians throughout the area, she is a frequent keynote speaker and clinician at music education conferences nationwide and serves as the director of jazz at Purdue University in West Lafayette.
Saxophonist Josh Weirich has been performing around the Indianapolis area for many years. You may have seen him perform with Living Proof, a premier party band in central Indiana, or with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra, Groove Essential, or the Cool City Band. Not only is Josh a dynamic and versatile performing musician, he is also the longtime band director at Zionsville Middle School, where he was honored as Teacher of the Year. He also was recognized as Indiana Music Educator of the Year by the Indiana Music Educators Association
Drummer Chelsea Hughey stays busy as both a performing musician and educator. She serves as an adjunct professor of drum set at Butler University and as adjunct professor of percussion at Marian University, plus teaches privately at the Sycamore School in Indianapolis. You can catch Chelsea playing venues around town with a number of jazz musicians, including trumpet player Kent Hickey and vocalist Erin Benedict, with the Naptown Trombone Collective, or as the house drummer at Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre.
*All ticket purchases and donations up to $75 are tax-deductible. Beyond $75, the fair market value of each ticket purchased is subtracted from the deductible amount. For example, paying $100 for a single ticket plus donation would result in a tax-deductible amount of $85, per IRS Charitable Contributions document.