Theron Brown - John Chacona writes

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 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.

For Howie Smith And Friends, Everything Old Is ‘Nous’ Again

Published 21 July, 2026 By John Chacona

Even at 83, saxophonist and composer Howie Smith remains an endless fount of surprises. You might even call his concert Friday night at BOP STOP a veritable Russian doll of surprises.

Get Overjoyed. UA JazzWeek ’26 In Akron Is Back

Published 13 April, 2026 By John Chacona

Overjoyed wasn’t the first choice for the theme of this year’s University of Akron Jazz Week ’26 that begins today. “At first we said gratitude, but there was something about it that wasn’t as killing,” said Chris Coles, who curates the four-day celebration and festival with his fellow UA faculty member and frequent musical collaborator Theron Brown.

Nathan-Paul’s Age of Aquarius Dawns At Edwin’s

Published 27 January, 2026 By John Chacona

Nathan-Paul Davis at RCB&J — Nathan-Paul Davis at Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival

Nathan-Paul Davis makes this statement at the top of his Linktree page:

"I play energy, not notes!" Nathan-Paul calls his music SOUND MEDICINE.

Anyone who has heard Davis play will recognize that he is simply stating facts. No cap. No flex. The energy in a typical Nathan-Paul performance could power a dozen AI server farms for a month.

Thursday night finds the saxophonist in an unusual setting: playing a birthday gig, in this case, his own. The setting, Edwin’s Leadership & Restaurant Institute, is at once familiar, but different.

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For Saxophonist Bruno Every Time On Stage Is Show Time

Published 2 December, 2025 By John Chacona

Growing up in Chicago with a father who played old-school rock and blues, saxophonist Anthony Bruno got an early immersion in the grind of the working musician.

“Whether it was in rehearsal spaces, bars, festivals, green rooms, recording rooms– that was just my life,” he said. “So when I would hang out and talk to other kids in school they’d be like, ‘What did you do this weekend?’ I’m like, ‘I was at this festival, then this rehearsal, and this thing,’ and they’re like, ‘What is that?’ I was like, ‘Oh! That’s not what every kid does all the time?’”

It’s what Bruno does all the time, and increasingly, in Cleveland where he will lead a high-powered quartet at BOP STOP Friday.