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Tag: jazz concerts in Akron

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

Published 13 October, 2026 By John Chacona

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.

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Moises Borges And Ava Preston Renew A Charming Musical Friendship

Published 7 July, 2026 By John Chacona

On paper, Moises Borges and Ava Preston are an odd match. He’s a guitarist from Bahia, the cradle of Afro-Brazilian culture, who has been a welcome fixture on northeast Ohio’s musical scene for decades. She’s a vocalist just a couple of years out of Solon High School whose international career is just beginning.

On the bandstand, though, they’re a perfect pair, and that’s where you will find them Friday at BLU Jazz+ and Saturday at BOP STOP for what is a reunion tour of sorts.

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Get Overjoyed. UA JazzWeek ’26 In Akron Is Back

Published 13 April, 2026 By John Chacona
UA Jazz Week Banner 2026

Overjoyed wasn’t the first choice for the theme of this year’s University of Akron Jazz Week ’26 that begins today. “At first we said gratitude, but there was something about it that wasn’t as killing,” said Chris Coles, who curates the four-day celebration and festival with his fellow UA faculty member and frequent musical collaborator Theron Brown.

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A Sonic Boom Of Music Hits Northeast Ohio This Week

Published 17 March, 2026 By John Chacona

Hands up: did you have a meteorite explosion on your St. Paddy’s Day bingo card this morning? That was a sound the likes of which I’ve never heard–which, in broadcasting is called a smooth segue to the topic at hand: music.

To say that this week’s constellation of concerts descended from the heavens is a reach, but starry? For sure!

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Tigran Hamasyan’s Manifeste Destiny

Published 3 March, 2026 By John Chacona
photocredit: Arnos Martirosyan

Tigran Hamasyan is a man with a foot in each of two worlds, both geographically and temporally.

“Basically, I love telling stories,” Hamasyan told me to begin our interview. “And throughout my discography, there’s this aspect that each song tells a story through music.”  It’s the kind of thing you might expect to hear from any musician, but the fact that Hamasyan said this from his home in Yerevan, Armenia, one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, gives his comment the weight of an ancient culture steeped In stories.

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