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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 May 16-22

Published 16 May, 2024 By John Chacona

Friendly experiencers,

IMAGINE A WORLD . . . where Terence Blanchard at Severance Hall and a significant album release and anniversary are in the roundup column instead of the Tuesday feature slot.

If you heard a portentous announcer voice in your head as you read that, well, it’s that kind of Met Gala of a blockbuster week on the NEO scene. Throw in Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s not-jazz but jazz-adjacent Re:Sound festival and you have a week that will get your ears in shape for the peak summer music season.

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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.

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO April 11-17

Published 11 April, 2024 By John Chacona

*The Jazz-Bins, (from left) Joe Dyson, Marc Ribot, Greg Lewis*

Friendly experiencers,

Monday’s Great Celestial Gig In The Sky is going to be hard to top. On the other hand, NEO jazz fans don’t have to wait 200 years for next big show to arrive, April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and there’s much to appreciate in the area’s clubs, concert halls and other venues. Here are four such shows, all filled with blindingly original and exciting players. File your taxes, mow the lawn and reward yourself with the best music Northeast Ohio has to offer.

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Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO, Feb. 22-29

Published 23 February, 2024 By John Chacona

Ken Vandermark's Edition Redux — *Ken Vandermark’s Edition Redux. Photocredit: Alex Inglizian*

Friendly Experiencers,

It’s been a minnit, I know, but the last eight weeks has been a bit of a time, which is to say that big changes are afoot, but getting on the good foot, I should have the time and mental energy to resume the coverage here and there’s much to cover on the NEO scene in the very near future. So let’s get right to it.

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Tag: New Orleans

Friday At The Treelawn: A Major TRIAD Sounds

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO May 16-22

Roll Call: Recent Recordings By NEO Artists

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO April 11-17

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO, Feb. 22-29