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Tag: Jamey Haddad

Joe Lovano Returns Home With An Homage On His Mind

Published 17 September, 2025 By John Chacona

If you were a northeast Ohio native who would be returning for a visit in September, the most glorious month here, your itinerary would probably include family gatherings, clambakes, forest bathing in the Metroparks ,and if you have a strong stomach, maybe a Browns game. Even a local legend like Joe Lovano might have those on his vaca to-do list. But this September to remember, he’s making memories in a different–and more consequential–way.

The eminent saxophonist and composer is establishing an endowed fund to support merit-based scholarships for students in the J@MS (Jazz at The Music Settlement) program, and kicking off the effort with a concert, celebration and hang at BOP STOP called Joe Lovano: Family & Friends

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Two Bands + Two New Releases = Three Shows in NEO

Published 22 July, 2025 By John Chacona

In the circular economy of jazz, new recordings are supported by album release tours or shows and those performances in turn create a market for the recordings. Just how this works is on display this week as concerts by pianist Ben Tweedt and saxophonist Matthew Alec, two artists with ties to northeast Ohio, celebrate the releases of their latest recordings.

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Friday At The Treelawn: A Major TRIAD Sounds

Published 23 July, 2024 By John Chacona
TRIAD - Christian Tamburr, Dominick Farinacci and Michael Ward-Bergeman with Jamey Haddad

You never know what might happen at a debut gig. Surprises are all but guaranteed when a band takes the stage for the first time, but for TRIAD, the collective of Dominick Farinacci, Christian Tamburr and Michael Ward-Bergeman, the biggest surprise came at load-in.

“Gianni Valenti, the owner of Birdland, gave me three nights,” Farinacci recalled. “I said, ‘I still want to do it under my name but have TRIAD because it’ll be a great experience.” Valenti agreed, but a few months later when the band arrived at the storied New York club, Valenti bellowed “What the hell is this instrumentation? Where is the bass player?”

There wasn’t one. And when TRIAD loads in to The Treelawn Music Hall Friday, there won’t be a bass player just Farinacci on trumpet, vibes and marimba by Tamburr and Ward-Bergeman’s accordion.

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Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO June 6-13

Published 7 June, 2024 By John Chacona
photocredit: Thom Kerr

Friendly experiencers,

Forget the headline of this post. The question this week is how to decide where to go & what to hear Friday night. Between an A-list Jamey Haddad quartet hit, a night of Roma jazz in beautiful CVNP and a powerhouse band led by saxophonist John Petrucelli, that’s a tall order. And that’s only if you won’t be at The Treelawn for Fred Hersch (see you there?). Still, this is a good problem to have and there is no wrong answer to this question. Whichever you choose, let me know what you heard and how you liked it. I’ll open the comments to this post, but please keep it clean and respectful.

Read moreCountdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO June 6-13
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Roll Call: Recent Recordings By NEO Artists

Published 7 May, 2024 By John Chacona

One of the great pleasures of this project is the opportunity to do a weekly temperature check of the NEO scene., with a focus on live performance where it surely belongs. No performances, no scene, right?

But NEO artists have lately been as active in the studios as they are on the area’s stages and bandstands. That’s a good thing, too. Some projects have been covered here, including Work and Song, the exultant live recording by Alla Boara made at BOP STOP last July, Lucas Kadish’s Tundra, which was a big part of this entry from 2023, and the forthcoming recording laid down two weeks ago by the Third Law Collective wsg Russ Johnson, a project I profiled here. A few more will get the in-depth treatment in future posts here and at All About Jazz.

Still it’s been a while since let’s call this has called the roll on recordings, and given the spring shower of recent releases, now’s the time.

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