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Tag: Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival

At Rubber City Jazz & Blues Fest, A Big Night Of Big Bands

Published 8 September, 2026 By John Chacona
The Sam Blakeslee Large Group at BLU Jazz+
The Sam Blakeslee Large Group at BLU Jazz+

The 2026 Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, which begins Thursday, is big: three days, five venues and 18 events. It has a big-name headliner, too in contemporary jazz master Gerald Albright who will top a double bill with Althea René at Lock 3 on Saturday, Sept. 12. But the biggest noise of the festival presented by Open Tone Music might be the one that a pair of big—or biggish—bands will make in the normally hushed confines of Akron’s Main Library.

The bands are under the leadership of trombonist and composer Sam Blakeslee, who will present music from his Large Group’s recording, New Blood, which will be released Sept. 25 on BJU Records, and Chris Coles, who has convened an 11-piece orchestra to play “The Way of The Sly Man,” a multi-part work composed by the late bassist and educator Dave Morgan.

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Jazz In The Rubber City Rolls On This Weekend

Published 3 September, 2024 By John Chacona
Nathan-Paul Davis at RCB&J
Nathan-Paul Davis at Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival

With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, northeast Ohio returns to the comfortable (clambakes, sweaters) and maybe less comfortable (fretting about the Browns) routines of early autumn. Hey, traditions are traditions, and they don’t change much–unless you’re a NEO jazz fan in which case you’ll want to add the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival to your list.

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Trading Fours: Your Guide To The Weekend’s Most Interesting Music

Published 3 August, 2023 By John Chacona

Friendly Experiencers,

The response to last week’s Trading Fours post was so positive that I’ll make it a weekly feature on Thursdays. Think of it as your planning guide to a weekend of music and good times.

The Rumble, Thursday, August 3 , 8 p.m., Beachland Ballroom

Fat Tuesday may be six months in the future, but it’s never too early to get your second line strut on, especially when New Orleans funk krewe The Rumble rolls into the Beachland Ballroom. Led by Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux, Jr. of the Golden Eagles (son of Big Chief Monk), this seven-man party machine has the pedigree to turn Collinwood into the Quarter, if only for a night. Crazy Marvin & the Blues Express opens.

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Always At Home With Music, Lucas Kadish Returns To NEO With A New Band and Recording

Published 2 August, 2023 By John Chacona

Lucas Kadish

“To me, music is home,” said guitarist Lucas Kadish in response to a question I posed by email last week.

It’s a pretty sentiment metaphorically, but Saturday, it becomes a statement of fact when the Hudson native brings his trio to BOP STOP to celebrate the release of his new recording Tundra.

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