Tri-C - John Chacona writes

It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter . . .

Published 17 February, 2026 By John Chacona

Summer’s sudden arrival in northeast Ohio has everybody emerging from their deep-winter isolation and hitting the streets. Cabin fever is breaking for national and touring jazz artists, too, and they are hitting area stages en masse this week.

With so many worthwhile shows in the next seven days, I’ll offer a kind of consumer’s guide to where to go and who to hear. There’s a wide range of music on offer this week; you really can’t go wrong with any of these shows.

Countdown . . .

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At CMA, Guitarist Dan Bruce Makes A Mixtape While You Listen

Published 18 November, 2025 By John Chacona

*(clockwise from top left) Jinari Kemet, Liz Bullock, Ray Flanagan, Gretchen Pleuss*

Though hip-hop artists have made it a genre unto itself, the mixtape, a homemade cassette of songs, was the Spotify playlist of the 1980s and ‘90s. Mixtapes were playable, tradable declarations of musical allegiances and taste, a medium of exchange and sometimes winsome mash notes to crushes, delivering their message at 1 7/8 ips.

True, it’s hard to imagine jazz nerds assembling cassettes of favorite Maynard Ferguson cuts to give to romantic objects (harder still to imagine they had such objects). Still guitarist Dan Bruce liked the concept so much that he’s making a mixtape live and on stage by arranging songs performed by Liz Bullock, Ray Flanagan, Jinari Kemet and Gretchen Pleuss with an a-list jazz ensemble.

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All Is Sound In Ben Tweedt’s Tribute To Hermeto Pascoal

Published 11 November, 2025 By John Chacona

When the protean Brazilian producer/arranger/composer/instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal died in September at age 89, obituary writers were challenged to find someone to compare him to (maybe Prince came closest). Hermeto, as he was invariably known, summed up his musical philosophy as tudo é som, “all is sound.” No wonder his nickname was o Bruxo, the Sorcerer.

As a student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, pianist Ben Tweedt came under Hermeto’s spell, an enchantment that inspired an evening of the master’s compositions at BOP STOP Saturday evening.

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Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO, Nov. 9-15

Published 9 November, 2023 By John Chacona

Emily Kuhn — *photocredit: Zack Sievers*

The Bay City Rollers didn’t make the Rock Hall this year, but here at Countdown, their most famous lyric line resonates:: “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, night!” That’s the night when jazz fans in NEO have some difficult decisions to make, but with three great shows in Cleveland and Akron, there are no wrong answers–and we’re here to help.

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Countdown: Your Planning Guide for Music Sept. 7-13

Published 7 September, 2023 By John Chacona

Remember last week’s Countdown? That’s right. There wasn’t one. A combination of the psychological fallout from disposing of half of my flooded record collection and late-August programming doldrums swamped me. But what a difference a week makes! And Countdown gets you ready with a roundup of some of the most snackable music events on this week’s banquet menu. Think of it as your every-Thursday planning guide to a weekend of music and good times.

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Tag: Tri-C

It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter . . .

At CMA, Guitarist Dan Bruce Makes A Mixtape While You Listen

All Is Sound In Ben Tweedt’s Tribute To Hermeto Pascoal

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO, Nov. 9-15

Countdown: Your Planning Guide for Music Sept. 7-13