Renowned jazz educator and Bloomingtonian Janis Stockhouse, who passed away on December 23, 2024 at the age of 69, was a widely beloved figure in the Indiana jazz community and beyond. Much like the late David Baker, who built the Indiana University jazz studies program and who played an important role in Stockhouse's development as a jazz educator, her tutelage of thousands of students for nearly four decades at Bloomington High School North multiplied her influence exponentially through the knowledge, values and love that she bestowed upon those she taught.
The Bloomington Herald-Times published an excellent overview of Stockhouse's life and career after news of her death became public that chronicles her many achievements, including being a part of the first group of women students admitted into Indiana University's illustrious Marching Hundred band in 1973, co-authoring the 2004 book Jazzwomen, and being named a "Jazz Hero" by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2014. She was a frequent guest on WFIU's Just You And Me in both the Joe Bourne era and with me as host, and she was always ebullient, gracious, supportive, and charmingly modest. She stayed quite active after her retirement from Bloomington High School North in 2019, continuing to teach and to lead or participate in groups such as the Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble and the Bloomington Jazz Orchestra.
For this first of a two-part WFIU tribute to Stockhouse, jazz musician/educators and former Stockhouse students Natalie Boeyink and Rachel Caswell joined me, along with jazz educator Lissa May, who was Stockhouse's predecessor as band director at Bloomington High School North. They offered numerous stories and reflections about the woman they regarded as an inspiration, a mentor, and a dear friend. In addition, you'll hear musical performances that Stockhouse conducted and several excerpts from a 2006 interview she did for WFIU's Profiles program. You'll also learn what it meant to be "Stockhoused" and to experience "joyful coercion." I'll soon be posting part two, which features special guests Sara Caswell (violinist, former Stockhouse student, and Grammy nominee) and Thomas Wilson (who worked as Stockhouse's assistant band director from 2001 until her retirement, when he took over her position).
(A public celebration-of-life event, Music and Memories: A Tribute to Janis Stockhouse, will be held at the Ray E. Carmer Marching Hundred Hall in Bloomington on Sunday, January 19 from 3:30-5:30 p.m.)
