Summer’s sudden arrival in northeast Ohio has everybody emerging from their deep-winter isolation and hitting the streets. Cabin fever is breaking for national and touring jazz artists, too, and they are hitting area stages en masse this week.
With so many worthwhile shows in the next seven days, I’ll offer a kind of consumer’s guide to where to go and who to hear. There’s a wide range of music on offer this week; you really can’t go wrong with any of these shows.
Countdown . . .
Makaya McCraven at CMA
In September 2021, on Sunday afternoon at the Tri-C JazzFest, a quartet led by trumpeter Marquis Hill lit up the Cain Park stage just like he dad Friday at BOP STOP. The heartbeat of the band was a pair of Chicagoans, bassist Junius Paul (remember the knitted yoga pants?) and drummer Makaya McCraven (the pianist was Jahari Stampley who would win the 2023 Herbie Hancock Competition). Hill, Paul and McCraven are among the most exciting and innovative players on their instruments, and they return under the drummer’s leadership Wednesday for a concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art that savvy jazz fans have had on their calendar since it was announced last fall. McCraven released a collection of four EPs as Off The Record, that landed on many critics’ Best of 2025 lists. Individually and collectively, they are a showcase for his audacious musical vision, his innovative use of technology and post-production techniques and his insatiatble musical curiosity. More to the point, they are a augury of where the music is headed. This is a can’t miss show.
Thomas Schinabeck Quartet at BLU Jazz+
Alto saxophonist Thomas Schinabeck has played with such poise and maturity on so many high-profile gigs over the last few years that makes it easy to forget that he’s still in college. This week, Schinabeck takes a break from his studies at the Peabody Institute to return home for a Thursday night gig that finds him, as usual, in fast company: saxophonist Chris Coles, keyboard player Andru Dennis and the rhythm team of Nicholas Doan on bass and drummer Zaire Darden. As a progress report, Thursday’s hit at BLU Jazz+ is an intriguing proposition. As a night of stimulating music, it’s self-recommending
Keyon Harrold at Tri-C
Maybe you’ve heard that 2026 is the centennial of Miles Davis’ birth (John Coltrane’s, too). Yet for all his singularity and influence, Miles is just one of a series of notable trumpet voices to emerge from St. Louis, stretching from Shorty Baker to Clark Terry to Lester Bowie. The latest member of this lineage is Keyon Harrold who will appear at Tri-C on Friday. There hasn’t been much information released about the context of his appearance, but Harrold’s ability to effortlessy move between R&B, hip-hop, lush soundscapes, and yes, jazz, make Friday’s concert and free masterclass a fascinating proposition.
The Uninvited at BOP STOP
When I suspended work for the night yesterday, the last thing I had written this:
One measure of the vitality of a scene is the age range of musicians onstage. When there’s respect, opportunity, communication and work for young and old alike, that’s a very healthy sign.
I had intended those words for a preview of a Dan Wall Trio concert at BOP STOP Saturday, but overnight an email from Howie Smith said Mr. Wall had to cancel and The Uninvited asked to pick up the date, and I didn’t have to change a word.; the inter-generational thing is built into the band. Carmen Castaldi and Jamey Haddad are both in their 70s (sorry guys; I am too if that helps). Joe Tomino is in his 40s and the ageless Howie will celebrate his 83rd birthday next Wednesday. Ain’t that beautiful?
Pat Bianchi Trio at BOP STOP
I’m an enthusiastic home chef by choice and medical necessity. My taste runs to the unusual, which is why I was surprised by the stream of casseroles that have emerged from my kitchen the last few weeks. I guess a historically extended deep freeze will spark a craving for comfort food.
The jazz analogue of these simple, satisfying meals might be organ trio music, and Sunday brings a heaping helping of tasty grooves, smoky saxophone solos and filling chords from the two manuals and pedals of the Hammond B-3 under the hands and feet of Pat Bianchi.
“Pretty much anybody can relate to the sound,” Bianchi said of his refrigerator-sized instrument “The B-3 is one of the most widely heard instruments even if they don’t realize it that it’s been recorded. Whether you’re about movies or soap operas from the ‘30s, whether you’re talking about big band recordings, whether you’re talking about straightahead jazz, whether you’re talking about funk, soul, gospel, country music, it’s everywhere.”
Sunday night it will be at BOP STOP with Bianchi and his bandmates, drummer Colin Stranahan and tenor all-arounder Troy Roberts who, one year ago this week, took a thrill ride from the airport through a blizzard in my Civic to arrive at BOP STOP ten minutes before his gig, and then killed it. We’ll take better care of you this time, mate.
For the most complete listing of jazz and jazz-adjacent events., look to Jim Szabo’s essential, weekly Northeast Ohio jazz calendar.
