Cleveland - John Chacona writes

Chris Coles “Nine Lives Project” Offers Grace Through Music, Dance and Visuals

Published 11 November, 2021 By John Chacona

Chris Coles

When Akron saxophonist and educator Chris Coles composed his “Nine Lives Project” as a response to the 2015 murders by a white supremacist of nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., anger was not on his mind. Even after the tumultuous events of 2020, “Nine Lives”chooses light over heat.

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Aaron Parks Returns to the road with a tour beginning at Cleveland’s Bop Stop

Published 1 November, 2021 By John Chacona

Aaron Parks had no problem filling the last 19 months of time once occupied by touring, recording and doing musician things. “We got a puppy in February 2020. And then we found out that we were pregnant in March 2020. And then everything shut down like 10 days after we found that out,” Parks said by phone last week. New fatherhood brings new challenges. “He just turned one, and he just discovered how to climb up the stairs, which is a little bit terrifying. He doesn’t walk yet, but he knows how to climb the stairs.”

That’s a big step for the little guy, but Parks Senior is a little more cautious about stepping out. When he kicks off his tour Friday at Bop Stop at the Music Settlement, it will be the pianist’s first touring gig since the lockdown.