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Tag: Hingetown Jazz Festival

Nothing But Flowers, Part 2

Jazz goes on and on. It never ends.

Vinnie Sperazza invokes that mantra often in Chronicles, his big-hearted and essential Substack. And it’s true! Just look at the variety of shows by local and touring musicians in the four days beginning Thursday. And while I’m here, I need to give some love to Jim Szabo whose weekly jazz calendar for WRUW is the menu from which I order. To get your own copy, visit the link at the end of this piece.

The menu analogy is no accident. Like food, music is best enjoyed in company. It’s a social activity, after all. And if you haven’t left the nest in a while, spread those wings and fly off to one of the many jazz events in our area this weekend. Below are four you might want to consider.

On and on.

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Pittsburgh’s Jazz History Flows From Reggie Watkins’ Horn

When Reggie Watkins came on screen for our video interview last week he wore a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap. When I jokingly expressed my sympathy for his devotion to the once-proud team now seemingly committed to mediocrity, Watkins would have none of it. He’s a Pittsburgh ride or die, but intercity rivalries aside, he also loves Cleveland jazz and returns to a familiar stage at BOP STOP for a gig Friday.

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Jazz In The Rubber City Rolls On This Weekend

Nathan-Paul Davis at RCB&J
Nathan-Paul Davis at Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival

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.

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“Local, Organic” Hingetown Jazz Festival Returns Saturday

Trumpeter Garrett Folger leads a quintet at the 2023 Hingetown Jazz Festival. photocredit: Amber Rogers, Local 4 Music Fund

Labor Day is a circle-the-date weekend for jazz in the Midwest with free festivals in Detroit and Chicago. The organizers of the Hingetown Jazz Festival would like to add their event to the list, and judging by the success of the inaugural all-day, all-free festival last year, they just might have a chance.

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Bounceback: Akron’s Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival Is Back In A Big Way

It could just be a case of wishful thinking, but the terrific things I’m hearing about this past weekend’s inaugural Hingetown Jazz Festival show what can happen when top-flight musicians, welcoming venues and tireless, community-minded organizers come together to meet audiences where they are. Who wouldn’t be stoked for the future?

And you won’t have to wait to get a glimpse of what that future might look like, because this weekend brings Akron’s annual Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival Sept. 7-9.

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