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Moises Borges And Ava Preston Renew A Charming Musical Friendship

Published 7 July, 2026 By John Chacona

On paper, Moises Borges and Ava Preston are an odd match. He’s a guitarist from Bahia, the cradle of Afro-Brazilian culture, who has been a welcome fixture on northeast Ohio’s musical scene for decades. She’s a vocalist just a couple of years out of Solon High School whose international career is just beginning.

On the bandstand, though, they’re a perfect pair, and that’s where you will find them Friday at BLU Jazz+ and Saturday at BOP STOP for what is a reunion tour of sorts.

Craft And Art: Christopher Hoffman’s ‘REX’ At The Treelawn

Published 30 June, 2026 By John Chacona

When the book is closed on the year’s most satisfying recordings, don’t be surprised to find among the big-budget productions, glossy all-star tributes and high-profile collabs, an intimately scaled solo cello recording on the tiny Out Of Your Head Records label. It’s called REX and its creator Christopher Hoffman will bring the music he wrote for it to a solo concert at The Treelawn Social Club Wednesday evening.

At JazzFest No. 47, Tri-C Tries Something A Little Different

Published 23 June, 2026 By John Chacona

It’s so high, you can’t get over it, so low you can’t get under it. It’s the Tri-C JazzFest, the biggest weekend on the Cleveland jazz calendar that begins Thursday, June 25 when Sheila E. takes the stage at the State Theatre.

This might be the one time all year that traditional media pay attention to jazz in Cleveland. That’s a good thing, so there’s no point in me yelling “Go Team!” from my little corner of the internet.

Still, this one feels a little different, and that’s worth noting.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today (more or less)

Published 2 January, 2026 By John Chacona

In which I look back and ask timidly for collaborators

A conversation with Rob Shepherd, my esteemed editor at PostGenre Media, led me to strap on my headlamp and descend into the depth of this site’s archives until I reached the very bottom, my first post. It’s still here, but, TLDR, it began like this:

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Countdown: Your Guide To Jazz in NEO, Sept. 27-Oct. 4

Published 28 September, 2023 By John Chacona

Collective action is on the calendar for the next week beginning with the monthly concert by the NEO composers mob Third Law Collective, a fusion-y three-way courtesy of guitarist Oz Noy with bassist Jimmy Haslip and force-of-nature drummer Dennis Chambers and concluding next Tuesday with a New Ghosts-sponsored performance (and that’s precisely what it will be), by DIOR STAPLER, a group that bears an uncanny resemblance to Eurojazz agents provocateurs Die Hochstapler. New Wednesday’s Cleveland Museum of Art concert by Love In Exile (Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily) will get a full preview on Monday. Are you ready?