Skip to content

Tag: Black American Music

Kate McGarry, Keith Ganz and Gary Versace Make Jazz En Famille

Keith Ganz,  Gary Versace, Kate McGarry

The image you see above wasn’t scraped from Kate McGarry‘s iCloud Photos account nor is it a promo shot, strictly speaking. But as a visual representation of the homey, intimate vibe you’re likely  encounter when McGarry, Keith Ganz and Gary Versace visit Bop Stop Thursday night (sans doggo), it’s perfect.

Leave a Comment

Chris Coles’ Quest Continues With “Love Deamon Song Cycle”

One of the most quoted lines from Naruto, the Japanese anime epic, is “Hard work is worthless for those that don’t believe in themselves.” Cleveland-born, Akron saxophonist and educator Chris Coles is such a “Naruto” fan that he wrote an album-length work, Love Deamon Song Cycle, released last Friday on Hidden Cinema Records, about it.

But when he takes the stage at BOP STOP Saturday with his Gleam ensemble, he’ll do more than just play music inspired by the Japanese anime epic, he’ll embody everything that quote represents.

Leave a Comment

It’s Three For The Keys At BOP STOP This Week

If you are searching for a glimmer of light in this dark and ominous hour, consider this. We are living in a golden age of jazz piano. There are more interesting pianists playing in a wider spectrum of styles at a high level of artistry and technique than at any time in the music’s eleven-decades of existence.

And it gets better. Three such pianists, Orrin Evans, Simona Premazzi and Philip Golub, can be heard in Cleveland over the next eight days. Though they might not have the name recognition of a Herbie Hancock or Jon Batiste, all are singular stylists who encounter the jazz piano tradition in idiosyncratic and brilliantly original ways.

Leave a Comment