Brent Wallarab Projects

Fiscal Sponsor & Music Education Partner

The Indiana Music History Project (IMHP) is proud to partner with Brent Wallarab, in support of his ongoing efforts to honor and advance Indiana’s jazz legacy. As the fiscal sponsor of The Gennett Suite and a supporter of jazz education through the Hoagy Carmichael Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition, we are committed to preserving the state’s rich musical heritage while nurturing the next generation of talent.

Fiscal Sponsor & Music Education Partner

The Indiana Music History Project is proud to partner with Brent Wallarab, in support of his ongoing efforts to honor and advance Indiana’s jazz legacy. As the fiscal sponsor of The Gennett Suite and a supporter of jazz education through the Hoagy Carmichael Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition, we are committed to preserving the state’s rich musical heritage while nurturing the next generation of talent.

The Gennett Suite: A Tribute to Indiana’s Jazz Legacy

The Indiana Music History Project is the proud fiscal sponsor of The Gennett Suite, a four-movement, 80-minute jazz composition honoring Richmond’s legendary Gennett Records and the jazz pioneers who recorded there in the 1920s—including King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Bix Beiderbecke, and Louis Armstrong.

The Gennett Suite
The Gennett Suite

Composed by Brent Wallarab and performed by the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, the Gennett Suite reimagines jazz classics like Stardust and Tin Roof Blues for a 17-piece orchestra, blending tradition with a modern edge.

Recorded in Bloomington in 2022, The Gennett Suite is available on CD and vinyl, with liner notes by jazz historians John Hasse and David Brent Johnson.

Purchase Your Copy of The Gennett Suite

The Gennett Suite project is being fully funded through tax deductible donations. Proceeds from the sales of CDs, LPs, and more will further fund the Hoagy Carmichael Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition and future Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra Projects.

The Gennett Suite: A Tribute to Indiana’s Jazz Legacy

The Indiana Music History Project is the proud fiscal sponsor of The Gennett Suite, a four-movement, 80-minute jazz composition honoring Richmond’s legendary Gennett Records and the jazz pioneers who recorded there in the 1920s—including King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Bix Beiderbecke, and Louis Armstrong.

The Gennett Suite
The Gennett Suite

Composed by Brent Wallarab and performed by the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, the suite reimagines jazz classics like Stardust and Tin Roof Blues for a 17-piece orchestra, blending tradition with a modern edge.

Recorded in Bloomington in 2022, The Gennett Suite is available on CD and vinyl, with liner notes by jazz historians John Hasse and David Brent Johnson.

Purchase Your Copy of The Genette Suite

The Gennett Suite project is being fully funded through tax deductible donations. Proceeds from the sales of CDs, LPs, and more will further fund the Hoagy Carmichael Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition and future Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra Projects.

Hoagy Carmichael Award for Excellence in Jazz Composition

Brent Wallarab, The David N. Baker Professor of Jazz Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, leads the selection and criteria for this prestigious award honoring Hoagy Carmichael, a Bloomington native and IU alum. Born on November 22, 1899, Carmichael became one of America’s most celebrated composers and performers. His iconic song “Stardust” was famously inspired in Bloomington and first recorded in 1927 for Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana.

“Having an award for jazz composition in Hoagy Carmichael’s name is a natural for the Jacobs School of Music at his alma mater, Indiana University,” says Wallarab. “Hoagy distinguished himself among the top echelon of jazz composers of all time.”

Hoagy’s son, Bix Carmichael, said “We always encouraged Dad to establish such an award, but he chose not to. Our family is happy to have it now in place at Dad’s alma mater, Indiana University.”

The Hoagy Carmichael Award was founded with generous support from the Reynolds family of Richmond, Bloomington, and Indianapolis, and is proudly supported by the Indiana Entertainment Foundation, which works to preserve and promote the legacy of Indiana musicians.

Each year’s awardees receive a $3,000 honorarium, their names added to a perpetual plaque alongside past recipients, an individual plaque, and a copy of Richard Sudhalter’s seminal biography of Hoagy Carmichael.

Brent Wallarab Project Achievements & Milestones