As chilly weather and the stress of dead week and finals bring us down, alphabet soup is just what students need to heat things up.

A nice warm cup of homemade Elemenopee to snap us back into reality.

Fueled by essential ingredients of jazz, funk, bossa, swing, rock and mambo, local band Elemenopee has been in existence since May of last year and has performed every Thursday this semester at Cafe Lovish.

String bassist Brian Quinn says he hopes the band will spark an interest in jazz for Iowa State students.

“We just need to make sure we show them that [jazz] is a lot more fun than some old guys playing at a banquet,” Quinn says. “We figured that what a lot of bands do right now is play one style of music. We wanted to do something different.”

The group, which practices weekly at Music Hall, uses a few “weird” techniques in order to bring something fresh to the music.

“When I play, I just like to change the feel in one song instead of playing the same old stuff,” he says.

Quinn occasionally smacks the side of the bass with his hands to come up with a different sound.

And drummer Rich Tener sometimes takes a hands-on approach to playing the drums, by hitting a conventional drum set with his digits.

Quinn adds that Elemenopee is one of the few bands in central Iowa to play funk using a stand-up string bass.

This provides the opportunity to create some authentic slides, which can’t be done on electric bass because it has frets.

Other members of Elemenopee are Jason Lippard on alto and tenor saxophone, Curtis Long on trombone and Angga Agusmar on guitar.

Although the band does not have anything recorded yet, it plans to lay down some tracks in the near future.

As director of performing arts for the Student Union Board, president of Iowa State’s Jazz Club, senior in genetics and bassist in Elemenopee, Quinn clearly has his bowl full.

But these extra activities have helped the band along in booking gigs and gathering support.

As a result of Quinn’s contacts in the Ames community, Elemenopee has played at The M-Shop, Stomping Grounds, various parties in Ames and after this weekend — North Grand Mall.

“A lot of times, people find that they want to hire jazz bands for nothing more than background music and we’re not about that,” he adds.

“I like our music because of the energy level. I’ve heard a lot of bands that don’t get into it.”

With Elemenopee and another Ames jazz group Wanderlust both playing regular gigs, the question arises of whether or not a large local jazz scene has potential to develop.

One of the benefits about having a small jazz scene is that there is more of a chance for interaction between different bands. “We’ve sat in on a couple of sessions [with Wanderlust] and they do the same for us. We just show up with an instrument and play.”

While there is not an astounding amount of support for jazz in Ames, Quinn sees some hope for the future.

“A lot of people are interested in jazz but they are only background listeners; they don’t go out of their way to listen to it,” he says. “With the swing rage going on, I’m thinking jazz could become much more popular.”

Although support for jazz in the Ames community may be miniature, the alphabet soup known as Elemenopee still tastes Mmm Mmm Good.

Elemenopee plays tonight at El Coco Bar, inside Cafe Lovish from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

The $2 show is the band’s last Thursday performance of the semester.

Next semester, the group’s weekly 9 p.m. gig at Cafe Lovish will take place on Sundays. This Sunday, Elemenopee is scheduled to perform at 4:30 p.m. at North Grand Mall.