(Turn It Up! Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

This recap is a result of the valiant efforts of the following ZapTown staff: Andrew Duncan, Kimberly Duncan, Benjamin Swisher, Rachel Rubenstein, and Sutiweyu Sandoval.

Introduction by Andrew Duncan

Link: http://www.broadripplemusicfest.com/

It is quickly becoming commonplace to associate October in the city with The Broad Ripple Music Fest.”. What was once a novelty in the Northside neighborhood has now become tradition. For 2010, the festival was bigger and bolder than year’s past. From the opening Kickoff Party with Margot And The Nuclear So And Sos to a day and night filled with over 100 musicians and 15 venues opening their doors.

“I felt great about the turnout and overall vibe this year,” said Daniel Fahrner, festival organizer.  “We saw a 30% increase in attendance and all of the feedback we’ve gotten has been great.  Obviously there were still some low points, but we’re very encouraged for the future of this event after such an amazing 2010.

“Some of the highlights really pushed the envelope compared to past years: an incredibly beautiful backdrop at the Indianapolis Art Center stage, an epic outdoor party at Connor’s Pub with roughly 20 bands, a wall-to-wall crowd for We Are Hex and Andy D at Casba and let’s not forget a nearly sold-out kickoff at the Vogue on Friday night.”

With a percentage of ticket sales going to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and an enrichment of music and culture to the city, you cannot help but take notice to something of this caliber. It’s one weekend out of the year that will only grow and become more powerful. But that can only happen with further community involvement and more people coming out to help support the local music.

“More venues and promoters stepping into the fold will make this event grow next year,” Fahrner said. “Ultimately, we don’t have enough space for the amount of showcases we’d like to.  We’ll continue to grow, but we certainly need new venues and promoters to get involved to reach the potential of this event.”

For now, Indianapolis has something that is unique and special in its own massive sense. It’s something we can look back and say that we were there. This is our scene.

(Quick Said The Bird @ The Indianapolis Art Center. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

(Oreo Jones @ Savvy Salon. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

(We Are Hex @ The Casba. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein.)

(Smedley Jergins & His Orchestra @ Luna. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

(Mudkids @ Savvy Salon. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

(Jackola @ Tru. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein.)

(Rugged Russian Bear @ Wasted Space. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

(Deadbeats @ Connor's Pub. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein.)

(Jason Brown @ The Monkey's Tale. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

(Wiz Kids @ Savvy Salon. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

(The Rocketeers @ Savvy Salon. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

(Andy D. @ Casba. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein.)

(Neon Love Life @ Connor's Pub. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein.)

(Hot Foxx @ Connor's Pub. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

(Hinks Jones @ Savvy Salon. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

ZapTown/Old Soul Entertainment Showcase
Mystikos Quintet | The Right Now | DJ Kyle Long
Words by Sutiweyu Sandoval

I showed up a little early at the Jazz Kitchen so I had enough time to make the rounds and mingle with all the familiar faces. Old Soul Entertainment and Cultural Cannibals are well known for throwing the best dance parties in the city, and I have shown my face many times at events done by both groups.

Aside from the wonderful music, both groups have perks included in their event. With Old Soul, it’s moving around in a group that has a high concentration of creative types from photographers to dancers to musicians. There’s always amazing conversation to be had. Cultural Cannibals parties have a degree of cultural eclecticism which is always a delight in a city with such institutionalized segregation.

This event happened to feature Kyle Long (primary DJ for Cultural Cannibals), but it was more of an Old Soul crowd, albeit a slightly older one than I’m familiar with.

Shortly after I got done casing the place for friends and foes, DJ Kyle Hodges replaces the pleasant Jazz band that had been playing.

Some DJ’s create excitement through the sheer hypeness of their tracks or through turntablist techniques. Kyle Hodges has repeatedly earned my respect above many others through his subtle track selection and detail-oriented mixing. He’s definitely a DJ’s DJ and when he spins Breaks, he’s a Breaker’s DJ. Needless to say, he spun breaks to open up the night that I found to be lovely.

My only real point of contention was apparent early. The seating arrangement was such that tables and chairs covered the vast majority of the dance floor. I’m a dancer so I pay attention to weird details. This was somewhat vexing because the seating was not dense enough to provide chairs for all and yet there were enough attendees that even standing within sight of the stage was a struggle without obstructing the service staff. This in no way diminished the quality of the music but it meant I had to ask a group of ladies (that I didn’t know) if I could sit with them. They were generous enough to say yes.

(Mystikos Quintet. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

Mystikos began their set and, to my delight, incorporated “Sleepy” Floyd (a musician’s name if I ever heard one) on drums and Jared Thompson on saxophone. Both musicians are incredibly talented, soulful, and friendly so they were a natural fit. Jared’s addition of the legendary horn part from “Today” by Tom Scott and the California Dreamers was raw business. Possibly my musical highlight of my night.

(Mystikos Quintet. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

The one constant throughout the performance was the core of Mystikos: Greg Rode and Kyle Hodges. Now, this is conjecture, but I believe that Kyle cued the songs up with Reason and Greg used his midi-keyboard to play the appropriate sounds for each song. Greg also gave a little background, and a little back story is always nice.

(Mystikos Quintet. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

For several songs there were three vocalists that sang in a delightful Neo-soul style. On each song, one would take the lead and the others would back them up. They rotated the lead role from song to song so each one got their time to shine. It worked well since for this performance, Mystikos chose to highlight some of the slower, more chill songs from their catalog. When I realized this, it explained the seating situation a little more clearly.

(Mystikos Quintet. Photo by Benjamin Swisher.)

Another pleasant surprise came in the form of Alpha.Live who is one of Indy’s premier Lyricists. He rhymed over two consecutive tracks, combining both written and improvised lyrics to great effect.

I could make further comment on the set but the fact is that it was a good start for what was essentially a studio creation making the transition into a performance with live instrumentation. I spoke with Kyle after the set and he said that the group is still in the process of rearranging existing tracks and creating new ones to make the integration of live musicians a little more seamless. All of the musicians involved are inspired so I believe that the live show will be something truly spectacular very soon.

(DJ Kyle Long. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

Kyle Long hopped on the decks after Mystikos. It sounds weird to say this but Kyle is not known for spinning American music, and he should be. His love of all things funky is evident as he pulls out gems as rare and obscure as local DJ’s that are more famous for their Funk sets. Kyle chose to spin Funk Breaks and they are dear to my heart, so I definitely applaud him for that. Something even cooler was that the musicians from The Right Now were comfortable enough with funk that they were tuning up in time to his tracks and it resulted in a very short but very smooth live/DJ collaboration.

(The Right Now. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

The Right Now are no joke. The closest analogy I can think of is that they are to vintage Soul what Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings are to Funk; a passionate and accurate revival of music that they are clearly passionate about and really dope at playing. The band was extremely tight which makes me think that they either spend an ungodly amount of time on the road or in a rehearsal spot. The way they accentuated each other was amazing. I’m really not even that big a fan of Soul (old or new), but these folks were amazing.

(The Right Now. Photo by Kimberly Duncan.)

Toward the end of their set, they made a point of encouraging the crowd to “Step.” This (to my eyes) is essentially a jazzy form of ballroom dancing which I mainly see when someone starts playing Earth, Wind, and Fire. The thing that most entertained me about this was that the band decided to lead by example so there was some enthusiastic dancing on stage that was replicated on the dance floor (which got maxed out quickly). Sadly, much of the crowd had already left after Mystikos ended, but for those that were left; the leader singer seemed to form a nice bond with. The Right Now was a pleasure both to watch and listen, and I hope they are valued as much in their hometown of Chicago as they were by the crowd that saw them here.

After The Right Now, Kyle Long began his second DJ set of the night and pulled out beats harder than he did the first time. By this point, I had bust out a few moves myself since I could sense the night ending along with my journalistic responsibilities. When he dropped “I Know You Got Soul” by Bobby Byrd, I had to restrain myself from dancing on the ground since that’s one of my anthems.

Overall, it was a great evening, a testament to what’s going right, musically, in the city, as well as what we have to look forward to. It was also a night that perfectly displayed why the Jazz Kitchen is one of the hippest venues in the city.