Friendly experiencers,
Has it really been this long? A few weeks ago, I announced a sort of summer vacation for let’s call this and the Thursday Countdown while we dealt with renovating and moving into a house and dealing with some family health issues. Those haven’t gone away, but the urgency around them has momentarily eased a bit, making room for . . . well, this. With the move postponed until the end of August, I could sneak in this preview of some notable events, two of which are at my favorite price point and yours: free. See you out there.
Sofia Goodman, Fri. July 26, 8 p.m., BOP STOP, 2920 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, tickets $20 available here
As technology and rapacious business practices continue to erode the economic prospects for musicians seeking, Nashville is a place where players can still make a living by playing. Still, it’s an unusual place for a jazz drummer to land. Thanks to a lucky fire (not a misprint) that forced her to relocate from Boston, Sofia Goodman landed in Music City at a time when the jazz community was growing and beginning to flex its muscles. On the flexing tip, Goodman’s new recording, Receptive, on her Joyous Records label, has plenty of that. It’s an octet date thick with colorful arrangements and energetic playing from the younger wing of the Nashangeles jazz crew. It drops tomorrow and guess which city she chose for her record release gig? Matt Twaddle on piano and Leland Nelson on bass join her.
Jack Schantz Jazz Unit featuring Barbara Rosene, Sun., July 28, 6:30 p.m., The Gazebo, Hudson, free
It’s not just the weeds and zucchinis that come out of nowhere every summer. One of the joys of summer in the city is the efflorescence of outdoor concerts. The best kind have the additional benefit of being free. Case in point: the Sunday evening show by the Jack Schantz Jazz Unit with ebullient vocalist Barbara Rosene at the gazebo in historic Hudson. If that setting inevitably arouses feelings of nostalgia for an earlier time of bandshell concerts and the old songs, you’re in good hands. Rosene is a specialist in the kind of material you might have heard in this very setting some 75 years ago. She interprets it with the care and authenticity honed by her gig with the Harry James ghost band. The JSJU is very much flesh and blood and stocked with NEOs first-call players, so the table–or the picnic blanket in this case–is all set for you. Add a camp chair and a chilled bottle of rosé and you’re all set.
Ernie Krivda & the Fat Tuesday Big Band, Sun., July 28, 6:30 p.m., Lakewood Park, Lakewood, free
Did someone say bandshell? One of the area’s best is in beautiful Lakewood Park, just a few blocks from my house. Ernie Krivda lives even closer, so this appearance by his Fat Tuesday Big Band is almost a backyard get-together. If so it’s a big back yard with plenty of room to stretch out, stroll among the tall trees, or maybe dance if the spirit moves you. More likely it’ll be the well-oiled machine that is the Fat Tuesday Band that will get you to your feet. And is there another concert venue in the country that offers better views of the setting sun than Lakewood Park’s Solstice Steps?
I couldn’t live without Jim Szabo’s essential, weekly Northeast Ohio jazz calendar , NEO’s most complete list of jazz and jazz-adjacent events. If you haven’t visited it lately, what are you waiting for?
NOTE: This article was written by a real human being. No artificial intelligence or generative language models were used in its creation.
Red beans and ricely yours,
jc
