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Tag: Cleveland jazz

Collective Action: A New Player Brings Benny Benack III Back to NEO

Published 18 March, 2025 By John Chacona
Benny Benack III

How many times have you heard this—or said it yourself—when leaving a great concert by a touring musician: Why can’t we get more shows like this here?

Kyle Knoke, a graphic designer and concert promoter found himself asking that question and decided to answer it by creating the Midwest Jazz Collective, a consortium of 13 clubs and presenting organizations that will bring  Emmy-nominated trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III  to BOP STOP March 25 and BLU Jazz+ the following night.

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Angelika Niescier’s Transatlantic Trio Breathes Fire

Published 10 March, 2025 By John Chacona
Angelika Niescier Trio

Angelika Niescier is looking forward to her trio’s Thursday night concert at The Treelawn Social Club with an extra degree of anticipation. It’s not just that she gets to play with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Savannah Harris or that the gig is part of the New Ghosts presenting organization’s tenth anniversary. No, the cherry on top—or maybe we should say the sour cream—is the pierogies.

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Jim Snidero Returns To Cleveland On A Bird’s Feathers

Published 4 March, 2025 By John Chacona

Jim Snidero is about to hit the road, and he’s doing it the old-fashioned way—loading up the van and driving through the Midwest, playing night after night, city after city. And when he rolls into BOP STOP for a Friday, March 7 performance, he’ll bring the kind of musicians who turn heads: Peter Washington on bass and Jason Tiemann on drums.

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Is, Not Was: Don Was Motors Into Cleveland Fueled By The Music Of Detroit

Published 24 February, 2025 By John Chacona
Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble

Don Was is a busy guy. He’s the president of Blue Note Records, the iconic jazz label. He has an office in the Capitol Records Tower, the 13-story building in Hollywood that was built to resemble a stack of records. He’s been a figure on the LA music biz scene for decades. He’s 72 years old. So what’s he doing playing a club date in Cleveland on a Thursday night in February?

Let’s just say he’s leaving LA for a short-term rendezvous with two of his lifelong loves: his hometown of Detroit and playing music. The bassist, producer and executive is bringing his new band, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, to the Music Box Supper Club on February 11.

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Troy Roberts, A Saxophone Wizard From Oz, Lands at BOP STOP

Published 11 February, 2025 By John Chacona
Troy Roberts

I get a lot of records from publicists looking for a review, 788 last year. That’s way more than I can get to, but I try to check in on most of them. Last year I noticed that a lot of them had Troy Roberts on tenor saxophone, and even on records I didn’t care for–maybe especially those–I was drawn to his muscular sound. I missed his appearance last year with Pat Bianchi (a gig I previewed here), but I–and Cleveland—will get a second bite of the apple Sunday, Feb. 16 when the saxophonist returns to BOP STOP.

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