With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, northeast Ohio returns to the comfortable (clambakes, sweaters) and maybe less comfortable (fretting about the Browns) routines of early autumn. Hey, traditions are traditions, and they don’t change much–unless you’re a NEO jazz fan in which case you’ll want to add the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival to your list.
The event’s ninth installment arrives Thursday night at BLU Jazz+ with a special concert by the Sam Blakeslee Large Group (more about that later) and before it concludes late Saturday night will have presented 27 musical acts and six sessions at 11 Akron-area venues, from Knight Stage to the grounds of Mustill Store.
That’s a lot of jazz and blues and aside from two ticketed events at Knight Stage, both with favorite son Dan Wilson, all are free of charge.
A clambake of great music
Friday’s festival menu packs more jazz before dinner than most fans get all week, with performances led by three of the leading alto players on the NEO scene, Chris Coles, Ronell Regis )both of whose sets at last weekend’s Hingetown Jazz absolutely slapped) and Bobby Selvaggio who will be joined by 2024 resident artist Sean Jones. Vocals start the evening with Barbara Rosene before saxophonist Jevaughn Bogard’s Abstract Sounds takes it home at BLU.
Saturday is a farmers’ market of fresh deliciousness with large ensembles, including the Open Tone Music Youth Ensemble, mid-sized groups such as Cleveland’s raucous Da Land Brass Band, and small groups, such as Daniel Bruce’s intriguing new electric OHM! Trio.
Touring artists are rare at this locavore feast, but Washington, DC flutist Alex Hamburger, fresh off a summer engagement at BOP STOP, returns, and Aneesa Strings, an electric an acoustic bassist and vocalist (where have you heard that description before?), headlines Knight Stage with hometown hero Dan Wilson.
Youth is served on Saturday with sets led by pianist Jennifer James, guitarist Lucas Kadish, Smokeface, the masked bassist and the Stix Trio, led by the eponymous—and precocious—drummer Nehemiah Baker. The future looks bright while established bandleaders Nathan-Paul Davis, Rob Hubbard and Justin Tibbs represent the hardly-much-older generation with their veteran bands.
More than music
A screening of the trippy Sun Ra film “Space Is The Place” is a notable non-music offering, but even more notable might be the panel discussions on topics as central as Akron’s jazz history and as intriguing as an exploration of the place of psychedelics in music. A 12:30 session at the High St. Stage entitled Giant Steps: Navigating the Challenges of the Jazz Scene as a Rising Artist, brings together Coles, Wilson and Jones, three artists who know what time it is.
Given the abundance of music, panel discussions and venues to coordinate, the most amazing thing about RCJ&BF might be the small number of volunteers who make it go. They’re all under the umbrella of Open Tone Music, the nonprofit educational and cultural organization that has been bringing music to the people and celebrating the artistic legacy of Akron since 2010.
Honoring the founder
In recognition of this work, Open Tone’s founder and executive director Chris Anderson was named by the Jazz Journalists Association as its 2024 Akron Jazz Hero, an honor that will be acknowledged by a presentation that I’ll have the privilege to make to Anderson on the festival’s opening night at BLU Jazz+.
In addition to his community work, Anderson is a musician and a great one (eminent New York trombonist Steve Davis once told Blakeslee, “If Chris Anderson lived in New York, there would be a lot of people out of work.”) as is RCJ&BF artistic director Theron Brown and social media and marketing director Tibbs. Add arts administrator Will Blake and this is a team that can elevate what is already a signature event.
Tibbs’ hope is to make RCJ&BF “one of the most electrifying festivals in the world. I want people to fly in from other countries and say, “I came here just for the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival.’”
Just imagine if that were to happen, And just imagine how lucky are we in northeast Ohio are with all this richness here now, just a short ride away.
Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, Thu., Sept. 5 – Sat. Sept. 7, various locations in Akron, Full list of artists, events and venues available here
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
