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Tag: New York

At BOP STOP: Grease and Grace Combine In Pat Bianchi’s Organ Trio

Published 12 November, 2024 By John Chacona
Pat Bianchi
photocredit: Aidan Grant

It was a simple question that I asked Pat Bianchi: Which is your dominant hand? His answer was more complex than I expected.

“I’m kind of both,” he said. “I write with my left hand. I can write with my right hand, too, so it kind of flips back and forth.”

Ambidexterity is a useful trait for a keyboard player to possess, and because Bianchi’s primary instrument is the Hammond B-3 organ, his feet are also involved.

The lack of a dominant hand is an interesting footnote for sure but it’s also a metaphor for the absence of a dominant aesthetic in Bianchi’s musical choices, something that makes his Friday appearance at BOP STOP an unusually compelling event.

Read moreAt BOP STOP: Grease and Grace Combine In Pat Bianchi’s Organ Trio
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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.

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For Open Sesame, “F” Is For Fiedler–And Fun

Published 17 September, 2024 By John Chacona
Joe_Fiedler_Open_Sesame_by_Peter_Gannushkin
(from left) Sean Conly, Michael Sarin, Joe Fiedler, Steven Bernstein (with duckie), Jeff Lederer. photocredit: Peter Gannushkin

Public radio often talks about “driveway moments,” listening experiences that keep you in your car listening even after you’ve reached your destination. Trombonist and bandleader Joe Fiedler had one that changed his life and set him on a career path that brings him and his Open Sesame band to The Treelawn on Friday. 

Read moreFor Open Sesame, “F” Is For Fiedler–And Fun
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