Photo provided Indianapolis-based pianist and vocalist Kelleen Strutz will perform at Jazz at Helen’s on June 20.
Jazz meets classical, pop, soul and more at the premiere performance of Jazz at Helen’s summer series, featuring Indianapolis-based pianist and vocalist Kelleen Strutz on June 20.
Tickets for Strutz’s show are available at thecip.org/events/kellen-strutz-june-2025. Other shows in the summer Jazz at Helen’s summer lineup include the acoustic Hot Club jazz/swing combo of Bleu Django on Aug. 22 and Columbus native and party jazz performer Cathy Morris on Sept. 12. Tickets for the entire series are also available at thecip.org.
Born into a very musical family, Strutz grew up in Wisconsin and began taking piano lessons at the age of 9, focusing mostly on classical music. As Strutz grew older, she began interweaving jazz into her music, performing and singing in jazz clubs in college at Butler University where she would graduate with a master’s degree in piano performance.
“So I was kind of like a later bloomer when it comes to jazz, but I absolutely loved that style too and my dad would play jazz organ in supper clubs in Wisconsin, so he introduced me to that genre,” Strutz said. “And so then afterwards I’ve just been doing music ever since in different forms, whether it’s accompanying people classically or singing jazz with my own groups.”
While she has mostly performed in Indiana, her career has also taken her on a nationwide tour with Indianapolis opera singer Angela Brown. Strutz said her musical style takes influence from artists she loved listening to growing up, from the classic jazz sounds of Sarah Vaughan to the pop sounds of Mariah Carey. She described her own style as being a mix of classical and jazz with added hints of pop and soul, and her song choices often include traditional jazz and pop tunes from the 1970s.
“… I like local composers like Hoagy Carmichael, I like to do his ‘Heart and Soul,’ which is very famous but you don’t often hear it sung,” Strutz said. “And then with my piano I add classical elements to the jazz, like I’ll do a classical introduction just to sprinkle in some of that.”
In her second performance with Jazz at Helen’s, Strutz will be accompanied by bassist Thomas Brinkley, saxophonist and flutist Jonathan Rice, and drummer Richard “Sleepy” Floyd. Her show will also see some surprises, such as her son Ethan joining her on stage and performances of bossa nova and tango jazz featuring Strutz on the accordion.
“I don’t want to say I’m a variety show, but I mean, it’s like, ‘hey, if I have these different kind of talents or my son likes to perform, why not?’ Just mix it up,” Strutz said.
Strutz said she is always excited to have been invited back to perform and she loved her previous performance with Jazz at Helen’s. She looks forward to presenting some of her favorite songs, many of which she has been performing for years, and being able to share the music she loves with the audience. She hopes that audience members will be able to sing and hum along to some of these songs.
“It’ll be music that is somewhat familiar to them, that they can reminisce on when they first heard the song,” Strutz said. “And I hope they feel the infectious rhythm of the music, of the jazz, that they will feel the swing of our music and hopefully be touched by some of the lyrics in the more sentimental pieces of music and just have a great time.”
