Event previews - John Chacona writes

Nathan-Paul’s Age of Aquarius Dawns At Edwin’s

Published 27 January, 2026 By John Chacona

Nathan-Paul Davis at RCB&J — Nathan-Paul Davis at Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival

Nathan-Paul Davis makes this statement at the top of his Linktree page:

"I play energy, not notes!" Nathan-Paul calls his music SOUND MEDICINE.

Anyone who has heard Davis play will recognize that he is simply stating facts. No cap. No flex. The energy in a typical Nathan-Paul performance could power a dozen AI server farms for a month.

Thursday night finds the saxophonist in an unusual setting: playing a birthday gig, in this case, his own. The setting, Edwin’s Leadership & Restaurant Institute, is at once familiar, but different.

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In The Heart of CVNP, Happy Days Is Here For Jazz

Published 20 January, 2026 By John Chacona

Jazz is an unmistakably urban phenomenon.

Just saying the word summons images of a New York street teeming with swells in their snap-brim fedoras, cigarette rakishly dangling from their mouths with evening gown-clad women on their arms. A noir film come to life with the soundtrack of half a dozen bands beckoning from the doors of basement clubs. The last place you might expect to find jazz might be a place deep in the woods, maybe in the middle of a national park in the dead of winter.

Yet that is exactly where, on four nights between now and April, top-shelf jazz can be heard thanks to an innovative and welcome partnership between the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival.

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For Don Was And The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, “Everything’s On The Table”

Published 13 January, 2026 By John Chacona

When I dropped my preview of last February’s concert by Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, my friend Aric from San Francisco, a former Anthony Braxton student who is among the most astute listeners I know, wrote to admonish me. “Do NOT miss this. I saw em twice last year and was thrilled. Great stuff.”

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Pull UP! Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO March 27 – Apr. 2

Published 27 March, 2025 By John Chacona

Friendly experiencers,

Let’s just get this out of the way: jazz fans, the coming week is absolutely stacked. It’s so full of notable shows that it took two let’s call this posts to begin to cover it–and a third might not get to the bottom of the good stuff.

If the music calendar for the week were a dart board, you could close your eyes and hit a bullseye every time.

So as March goes out like a lion here’s your bulldog edition of Pull UP! Now have fun filling up that calendar.

These birds have flown

Published 1 October, 2024 By John Chacona

*Our backyard fence, painted by The Sign Guy*

Things have been a bit quiet lately here at let’s call this. That’s because we were in the middle of moving across town to a funky, 130-year-old former farmhouse in Lakewood’s Birdtown Historic District. The circumstances that brought us here are a long story that I’ll spare you, but suffice to say we have landed safely and happily (well, the cats aren’t happy yet, buuuuuut . . . ) and the WiFi has been connected. I’m typing this from my man cave, the first time in years that I’ve had a dedicated–and acoustically fine–listening room. That means more music will fill the Birdhouse, and with any kind of luck, more words about music will fill this blog.

Expect that to happen soon. October looks like a busy month, and previews of upcoming gigs by John Fedchock, Marta Sanchez, Ethan Iverson and the big BOP STOP tenth anniversary rager are in the works.

As per usual, look for a new installment of Pull Up! this and every Thursday?too. Meantime, I’ve got to put another record on, Bye.

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Category: Event previews

Nathan-Paul’s Age of Aquarius Dawns At Edwin’s

In The Heart of CVNP, Happy Days Is Here For Jazz

For Don Was And The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, “Everything’s On The Table”

Pull UP! Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO March 27 – Apr. 2

These birds have flown