JagBytes

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Photo Courtesy of Rob Dixon Rob Dixon

Jazz saxophonist Rob Dixon makes a living playing music in Indianapolis. Employed about five nights a week, Dixon contributes to the jazz scene of Indianapolis by playing and writing music for acts like Rob Dixon and Trilogy + 1 and solo artists like Cynthia Layne.

Indianapolis has been a home for jazz music since the 1940s and has produced great jazz artist like trombonist J. J. Johnson and guitarist Wes Montgomery. Recently the jazz scene has continued to thrive because of steady jazz clubs like the Jazz Kitchen, which hosts local and national acts six nights a week.

"A lot of cities don't have clubs that are that strong, and have that many people on a daily basis," Dixon says, "They do three or four national acts a month, which is great for a jazz club to be able to do that."

Another important contribution to the continuing Indianapolis jazz legacy has been Rob Dixon's new record label Owl Studios which started in 2006. The label is based in Indianapolis and supports other local artists like Cynthia Layne and Frank Glover, but also has signed artists in San Francisco and New York.

Rob Dixon has played the saxophone for 27 years starting when he was ten years old in Atlanta, Ga. His early influences were legendary saxophone players Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane.

"It's a very attractive sound to the ear for me and I just appreciate the emotional content of their playing, which was facilitated by a very intellectual approach to their music," Dixon says.

Dixon grew up in Atlanta, but studied jazz in Bloomington, Ind. at Indiana University. He went to the IU School of Music, because of the good reputation of its program and its Director of Jazz Studies David Baker. Baker has studied with great musicians like J. J. Johnson and has received honors such as being nominated for a Grammy.

After studying at IU, Dixon moved to New York where he made connections with jazz musicians and club owners and played clubs on a regular basis with three regular gigs in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn.

"Living in New York I learned how to get gigs, because they are saturated with musicians," Dixon says, "I realized it was about relationships; relationships with club owners, and if I could get a good report with them I could get in and do gigs. For a solid year and a half I had steadies every night of the week."

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