Tom Rhea was trained as a painter at Indiana University, where he graduated with a
BFA. After twenty years in the demanding field of medallic arts, his paintings still retain a very sculptural feel, with an emphasis on the unique limestone architecture that distinguishes the IU campus. Besides providing celebrity portraits for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, LA Weekly, and XXL Magazine, he has written extensively on arts topics for local and national publications. He currently teaches drawing and History of Art at Ivy Tech Community College. While most are views of Bloomington, the show also contains two paintings from a recent trip to Italy, including a view of the ancient city of Matera, carved into the limestone cliffs in the southern region of Puglia. These paintings were executed in gouache, an opaque watercolor, over the past five years.

Make plans with friends and family to enjoy the delicious food at Chili’s Grill and Bar. For FOUR DAYS from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day, starting Monday, March 7th and continuing through Thursday, March 10th, Chili’s Grill and Bar is offering the opportunity to dine and ensure a donation to the Friends of the Library. Pick up a flyer at the library in Bloomington or Ellettsville or download a copy from http://www.mcpl.info/friends and present it when you pay your bill. Chili’s Grill and Bar will donate 15% of your check to Friends of the Library. All proceeds go to fund the numerous and much-used programs offered by the library. Don’t miss this easy way to help your library continue its vital and necessary programming! This offer is valid for Dine In and Carry Out!!

Led by Edith Gingles the weekly gathering takes place downstairs in the Emilie Cady Room. Drop-ins are welcome any week.

About the Director

John Fedchock’s illustrious career in jazz has spanned over three decades. Since his emergence on the scene in 1980, Fedchock has established himself as a world-class trombone soloist, a heralded bandleader, and a Grammy-nominated arranger. An in-demand performer and writer in New York City for over twenty years, his multifaceted talents have led him to become one of NYC’s premiere jazz artists. His critically acclaimed John Fedchock New York Big Band has become a marquee group, showcasing Fedchock’s trombone and arranging as well as the band’s all-star soloists. The band’s four CDs for the Reservoir Music label, “New York Big Band”, “On The Edge”, “No Nonsense”, and “Up & Running”, have all received high praise from critics, and extraordinary success on national jazz radio charts. “New York Big Band” and “On The Edge” both earned 4 1/2 star reviews in DOWNBEAT magazine and were listed in DOWNBEAT’s “Best CDs Of The 90’s”. The success of the band also resulted in Fedchock’s name appearing in DOWNBEAT’s Readers Poll under the categories of Trombone, Arranger and Big Band, simultaneously for several consecutive years. In recognition of his formidable arranging skills on “No Nonsense”, Fedchock was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a 2003 Grammy Award nomination for “Best Instrumental Arrangement” for his exciting chart on “Caribbean Fire Dance.” The JFNYBB’s 2007 release, “Up & Running,” spent eight weeks in jazz radio’s Top Ten, with the New York Times applauding the band’s “Cheerful Syncopation, Served With Spit-and-Polish Precision.” His small-group project for Reservoir, “Hit The Bricks” appeared in DOWNBEAT’s list of “Best CDs of 2000”, and features special guests along with showcasing Fedchock’s “incomparable trombone playing, which seems to have no limit, technically or musically” (JazzReview.com). Attention from the recording inspired the creation of the John Fedchock NY Sextet, which has performed throughout the U.S., and at international jazz events.

Fedchock began his career as a jazz trombonist when he joined the legendary Woody Herman Orchestra in 1980. He toured with Woody’s “Thundering Herd” for seven years, during which time he was musical director and a featured soloist. He served as musical coordinator and chief arranger in the production of Herman’s last two Grammy Award nominated albums “50th Anniversary Tour” and “Woody’s Gold Star”, and received accolades from jazz journalists worldwide.. Famed jazz critic Leonard Feather called him the “unsung hero” of Woody’s “50th Anniversary Tour” album and Woody said of Fedchock, “He’s my right hand man. Everything I ask of John he accomplishes, and I ask a lot. He’s a major talent.” DOWN BEAT magazine stated that “it was the young blood of musicians like Fedchock that helped keep Woody Herman’s last years musically healthy and growing”. Fedchock still maintains a close association with the Herman orchestra, performing with the group on occasion and continuing to add his own compositions and arrangements to the band’s library.

Fedchock has toured with T.S. Monk, Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band, Louie Bellson’s Big Band, the Bob Belden Ensemble, the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and has performed at jazz festivals and concert halls around the world. As a solo artist, he appears throughout the United States and has toured abroad as a guest trombonist/composer/conductor. To add to his already diverse list of multiple talents, Fedchock is also a producer of note, and has lent his studio expertise to several recent recording projects.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Fedchock is a graduate of The Ohio State University with degrees in Music Education and Jazz Studies. He also holds a master’s degree in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media from the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He is an in-demand clinician, and conducts seminars and workshops at colleges and universities across the country. A strong advocate for arts in education, Fedchock was Trombone Chair for the International Association For Jazz Education Resource Team and a member of the board of advisors for the International Trombone Association. He is presently trombone representative for the Jazz Education Network’s Expert Team and is an adjunct lecturer in Jazz Studies at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Many of his jazz compositions and arrangements are published by Kendor Music Inc, Walrus Music Publishing, and Jazzlines Publications. John Fedchock plays XO trombones exclusively.