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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 . . .

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Collective Action: A New Player Brings Benny Benack III Back to NEO

Published 18 March, 2025 By John Chacona
Benny Benack III

How many times have you heard this—or said it yourself—when leaving a great concert by a touring musician: Why can’t we get more shows like this here?

Kyle Knoke, a graphic designer and concert promoter found himself asking that question and decided to answer it by creating the Midwest Jazz Collective, a consortium of 13 clubs and presenting organizations that will bring  Emmy-nominated trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III  to BOP STOP March 25 and BLU Jazz+ the following night.

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Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! The Indispensable BOP STOP Celebrates Ten Years

Published 16 October, 2024 By John Chacona
Alla Boara records at BOP STOP in 2023, photocredit: Jackson Clark

When you think of all the challenges that have faced independent music venues for the past ten years, industry consolidation, soaring rents and the rise of streaming entertainment—then add the COVID-19 shutdown–it’s a miracle that there are any places left to hear live music. The jazz scene, which has lived on the economic knife’s edge for decades, was hit hard. Yet a few places survived, and that’s something to celebrate.

Welcome to BOP STOP, the little engine that could and the beating heart of Cleveland’s scene. This week the club marks its tenth anniversary in its third incarnation as part of the Music Settlement in Hingetown. There it cultivates a training ground for young musicians, brings the world’s most notable artists to northeast Ohio’s and connects our most notable artists to the world. Hell yeah that’s worth celebrating.

Read moreCan’t Stop, Won’t Stop! The Indispensable BOP STOP Celebrates Ten Years
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