And with the arrival last year of ethnomusicologist Ingrid Monson, assistant professor of music, we seemed well placed to offer it. But when it comes to finding off-campus bookings, said Robert L. Hughes Jr., a saxophonist and doctoral candidate who serves as the group's faculty coach, the combo is responsible for doing its own legwork. In 1990, there was a jazz quintet, and today, there must be dozens of alternative bands. But I think the reason the Jazz Combo has had such success in finding venues is simply that Ben is good about returning phone calls and showing up on time and being ready with business cards when people ask for them. Which is really just a fairly normal way to build a business.
Looker concurs that legwork and perseverance are the keys to finding bookings.
We did volunteer work and sent cards and demo tapes to restaurants, art galleries and country clubs, just trying to get some momentum going. Ben was really the one lighting a fire under people to come out and play. Looker, a Mylonas Scholar in the humanities who plans to double major in music and urban studies, has found also that his gigs with the Jazz Combo provide a welcome, if unanticipated, link between his interests. They don't get to see much of St. Louis or the surrounding area. The Jazz Combo takes us into all sorts of different situations and parts of the city we'd never experience otherwise.