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Friday Night Lights: Two Saxophonists Debut New Directions

Published 27 October, 2026 By John Chacona

“I play energy, not notes,” Nathan-Paul declares on his press site, and if you’ve ever heard him play, you know it’s true. With interests as a broadcaster, musician, label owner and composer. Stephen Philip Harvey seems to be energy embodied. So catching up with these two protean creators reveals only a single frame in the epic film of their careers.

But this week is a rich moment to do so as both bring new projects to northeast Ohio on Friday, Harvey at BOP STOP and Nathan-Paul at BLU Jazz+.

For Jazz Fans And Players Alike, This Week Belongs To ‘The Cats’

Published 4 August, 2026 By John Chacona

Tradition might call this week the Dog Days of Summer, but for jazz fans around northeast Ohio, it’s time for The Cats. That’s the name that serious practitioners of the art of improvised music in the Black American tradition give to the ones who can really play.

By any measure, the musicians listed below fit that description and all are on bandstands around the area this week. Here’s what you can expect:

Indestructible Roger Humphries, The Beat Of Pittsburgh Jazz

Published 28 July, 2026 By John Chacona

When you think about the greats of Pittsburgh jazz the first names that come to mind might be the pianists, an incredible legacy that stretches from Earl Hines through Mary Lou Williams, Errol Garner, Ahmad Jamal, and Sonny Clark.

That’s pretty hard to beat—until you consider the drummers: Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey Beaver Harris, and Jeff “Tain” Watts. And smack dab in the middle of that roll call is Roger Humphries, who will make his BOP STOP debut at 82 on Friday.

At CMA, Guitarist Dan Bruce Makes A Mixtape While You Listen

Published 18 November, 2025 By John Chacona

*(clockwise from top left) Jinari Kemet, Liz Bullock, Ray Flanagan, Gretchen Pleuss*

Though hip-hop artists have made it a genre unto itself, the mixtape, a homemade cassette of songs, was the Spotify playlist of the 1980s and ‘90s. Mixtapes were playable, tradable declarations of musical allegiances and taste, a medium of exchange and sometimes winsome mash notes to crushes, delivering their message at 1 7/8 ips.

True, it’s hard to imagine jazz nerds assembling cassettes of favorite Maynard Ferguson cuts to give to romantic objects (harder still to imagine they had such objects). Still guitarist Dan Bruce liked the concept so much that he’s making a mixtape live and on stage by arranging songs performed by Liz Bullock, Ray Flanagan, Jinari Kemet and Gretchen Pleuss with an a-list jazz ensemble.

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This Weekend: Soul And Souls by OHM! and Caroline Davis

Published 29 October, 2025 By John Chacona

The best improvised music in the Black American Tradition offers something for the head, heart and feet. A pair of concerts this weekend at BOP STOP offer a potent distillation of how much music can move us.