Milan Jazz Band Keeps the Beat Alive Across Southeast Indiana

The Jazz Band includes students in grades 9-12.

Photo by Main Street Versailles.

(Milan, Ind.) - You may have thought you were in New Orleans if you’ve heard the smooth sounds of jazz floating through the streets of Milan, Dillsboro, or Lawrenceburg this past year. Chances are you were listening to the talented students of the Milan Community Schools Jazz Band.

Directed by longtime educator Stef Bedel, the group has become one of the area’s brightest musical ambassadors, bringing energy, talent, and a whole lot of swing to performances across Southeast Indiana.

Bedel, who has served as a band director in Ripley County for 27 years, including 25 years at Milan, says the jazz band is about much more than music. It’s about creativity, teamwork, and giving students opportunities to shine in new ways.

The Jazz Band includes students in grades 9-12 and meets daily as a class. What makes the ensemble especially unique is that many students perform on secondary instruments. Two of the alto saxophonists are actually flutists, another tenor saxophonist is also a flutist, one tenor sax player doubles as a clarinetist, and the bass guitarist is originally an oboist. These kids also participate in extra-curricular band practices and performances.

That versatility creates a group willing to take sophisticated musical risks, and audiences are taking notice.

This year alone, the band performed at Amack’s Well Coffee Shop, Holdsworth Pavilion, Dillsboro Christmas, Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg, and numerous events at Milan High School. They were also invited to perform at both the Lawrenceburg Holiday Expo and Rising Star Christmas festivities, though scheduling conflicts with Milan’s exciting football Semi-State playoff run prevented attendance.

One of the band’s standout performances came at Deaglan Town Square Grill, where students delivered a remarkable 20-song set featuring nearly an hour and a half of music, including original solos. They made the audience feel like they were dining in the French Quarter!

Even more impressive? The invitation came after the restaurant owner, John Kearney, heard the captivating sounds of the group performing down the street at Holdsworth Pavilion on Versailles Square and wanted more. Moments like that perfectly capture the growing excitement surrounding the program.

Milan Community Schools has long supported student arts and music programs, with district leaders regularly celebrating the accomplishments of band and art students alike. The Jazz Band continues that tradition while adding its own modern syncopated rhythm to the community.

And perhaps nowhere is that lively spirit reflected more beautifully than in the Southeastern Indiana Musicians Association (SEIMA) Music Mural, located next to Lawrenceburg Civic Park at the corner of Short Street and New Street. There are three anonymous children painted among the famous artists on the artwork, symbolizing the future of music in our region. Those figures

could easily represent students like the young musicians from Milan: talented, passionate, and carrying the soundtrack of Southeast Indiana into the next generation.

Whether playing tender holiday favorites, vibrant jazz standards, or crowd-pleasing classics, the Milan Jazz Band continues proving that great music doesn’t just belong in big cities or concert halls. Sometimes, it’s found in coffee shops, town squares, school gyms — and drifting through small-town streets on a Friday night.

And for communities across Ripley and Dearborn counties, that swinging sound has become toe-tapping special.