There’s a difference between playing for an audience that has to be there versus one that wants to be there, student Stephen Hogarty said.
“(It’s) so much more fun. Because in the school auditorium or just anything like that sometimes feels forced, where you’re just kind of playing for kids or parents who kind of have to be there,,” the Naperville Central High School senior said. “But when you’re playing at a real venue, people pay to see you play. It’s nice to know you’re appreciated and you’re wanted.”
Hogarty, who plays tenor saxophone in Naperville Central High School’s Jazz Band, got to experience that feeling while performing at The Venue in downtown Aurora when the student band opened for the Pete Ellman Big Band there earlier this year. The Naperville-based big band has a Tuesday night residence at the live music venue, and each week invites a different local school or college band to perform as well.
“Our whole model was to contact band directors and have them come out and give the students an opportunity to perform in a nonacademic atmosphere,” Ellman said of his band, which formed in 2009. “And occasionally we’ll provide clinicians for the students then we’ll actually perform with them at the venue.”
The Pete Ellman Big Band has been playing weekly at The Venue since last fall. While the big band has had residencies in other area venues over the years, live performances were put on hold at the start of the pandemic. When Ellman and his band performed last summer at The Venue, he learned the Fox Valley Music Foundation’s performances space is an educational not-for-profit, just like the big band.
“It just seemed like it would be a really good fit,” Ellman said.
Each week through May 31 a jazz band from a suburban middle, high school or college performs on The Venue stage from 6:30-7:15 p.m., then the Pete Ellman Big Band plays from 7:30-9 p.m.
“So the students get to hear us perform after they’ve performed,” said Ellman, who plays trumpet. “And many times guys from my band will do a guest solo thing with the students. So they’ll go out to the school and rehearse with them and do a clinic with them. And then they’ll come and perform a song or two with them at The Venue when they come out to perform.”
Hogarty got to play at The Venue twice this year with Ellman’s band. In addition to performing with the Naperville Central jazz band in March, in January he performed as a member of the Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage.
“Being able to see those guys play, they’re all top-notch musicians. I’ve been lucky we’ve had such a fantastic big band in the area. I take it for granted sometimes. Even in middle school we were able to open for the Pete Ellman Big Band, and I remember it being really cool. And we were terrible,” Hogarty said. “But it was still cool to see that our music director support it so much. And Pete Ellman Big Band especially supports young musicians so much, they go out of their way to bring them to their venues and spread the love.”
When Ellman’s band is playing, it will invite some of the students to sit in with the band so they get the experience of performing with professionals, Ellman said.
While Hogarty didn’t get to perform with the big band, some of his band mates got to sit in.
Audience members pay $5 to hear both the students and Ellman’s band at The Venue, which draws a good size crowd for a weeknight, Ellman said.
“Our average audience is over 80 (people), which for a Tuesday night is really good,” Ellman said. “It’s good for us, it’s good The Venue and it’s great for the students. The Venue is set up …. like a nightclub. It’s set up like a performance venue. So there’s microphones and lights and stuff that a lot of schools don’t have access to when they’re putting on their performances. So I think it gives them an idea of what it’s like to be a professional musician. And their parents really enjoy seeing them up on stage.”
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Ellman, who family has operated Ellman Music Center in Naperville for nearly 60 years, said he always has more schools that want to play with the band than he has spots available. He’s happy to see students today have more opportunities to learn about jazz than he had in school.
“The level of education that the teachers are providing has come a long way from when I was in school. There’s so much more material available for jazz education than there was when I was growing up. And the people who are teaching it have grown up with the educational process,” Ellman said. “Because they have the materials and they grew up doing it, they are much better equipped to educate the kids in performing jazz.”
Ellman, who grew up in Naperville and graduated from Naperville North High School, said when he was in school there were primarily two ways to learn about jazz.
“You could go see live music or buy albums. Depending on how much money you had, it limited your ability to what you could get, how many albums you could get. And that’s probably the biggest part of jazz education is listening,” Ellman said. “But now with YouTube and Spotify and stuff like that, you can find pretty much any artists from any year, any era, and hear how it’s supposed to go.”
Hogarty is happy to see there are students, like him, who want to continue to learn about and play jazz.
“It’s great to be able to see that there’s still young people who love this music who are continuing to pursue it,” he said.
Upcoming Thuesday night residencies include April 26 with Joliet Junior College, May 24 with Hinsdale Middle School, and May 31 with Dundee-Crown High School.
Pete Ellman Big Band with guest student musicians
When: 6:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays to May 31
Where: The Venue, 21 S. Broadway Ave., Aurora
Tickets: $5
Information: 331-212-8490; themusicvenue.org or pebb.net
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.