Keith Jarrett - John Chacona writes

Tigran Hamasyan’s Manifeste Destiny

Published 3 March, 2026 By John Chacona

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.

No Exaggerating! A September To Remember Starts This Week

Published 3 September, 2025 By John Chacona

Anyone who has ventured outside in the last couple of days can confirm it: September is the most glorious month in northeast Ohio. This week, dedicated indoors enthusiasts will join the amen chorus, because great jazz is everywhere you will look and listen.

There’s so much happening that I could write three or four full posts this week, but that wouldn’t leave enough time for the music. So rather than the full, big band version, I’ll give you the scaled-down trio arrangement–three can’t miss events that will have you circling the date and smashing the BUY NOW button on the ticketing page. And wait until you see next week.

Countdown . . .

Comments closed

Stars Align For Fred Hersch at The Treelawn

Published 4 June, 2024 By John Chacona

Silent, Listening, Fred Hersch’s affecting new recording, begins with a moody cover of “Star Crossed Lovers,” an Ellington/Strayhorn composition that was also on Hersch’s first trio recording as a leader, Horizon (Concord Jazz,1985). But don’t read too much into the programming. In music and in life, Hersch, who will play a solo concert at the Treelawn Music Hall on Friday, takes things a day at a time.

Comments closed

Lynne Arriale’s Jazz Of The Spirit Comes To BOP STOP

Published 21 May, 2024 By John Chacona

The term “spiritual jazz” seems to be everywhere these days. It’s a label that has more value for marketers than for music fans, an empty coinage that’s more meme than meaningful. It might be easier to say what “spiritual jazz” is not, for instance the music made by pianist and composer Lynne Arriale, who comes to BOP STOP Saturday night.

Comments closed

Bring Back The Time: Jamey Haddad Plays The Music Of Keith Jarrett

Published 16 August, 2023 By John Chacona

Keith Jarrett Jamey Haddad — *photocredits: Rose Ann Colavito ECM Records/Jackson Clark*

Sometime in the mid-70s, percussionist Jamey Haddad was in a studio in Beachwood for a session that concluded a bit early, so he asked engineer Dale Peters (yup, the James Gang’s bassist) to keep the tape rolling while he played drums along with a record that he was particularly taken with. That record was The Köln Concert, the 1975 ECM double album that became bestselling piano album and solo recording in jazz history, and arguably vaulted its creator, Keith Jarrett, to jazz stardom.

Two generations later, Haddad has lost none of his love for Jarrett’s music and this weekend he will play it with a quartet of guitarist Jonah Ferguson, bassist Kip Reed and saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio at four venues in Northeast Ohio and Pittsburgh.

Comments closed

Tag: Keith Jarrett

Tigran Hamasyan’s Manifeste Destiny

No Exaggerating! A September To Remember Starts This Week

Stars Align For Fred Hersch at The Treelawn

Lynne Arriale’s Jazz Of The Spirit Comes To BOP STOP

Bring Back The Time: Jamey Haddad Plays The Music Of Keith Jarrett