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Hands up: did you have a meteorite explosion on your St. Paddy’s Day bingo card this morning? That was a sound the likes of which I’ve never heard–which, in broadcasting is called a smooth segue to the topic at hand: music.
To say that this week’s constellation of concerts descended from the heavens is a reach, but starry? For sure!
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At the summit meeting of Cleveland saxophonists convened this past summer at the Tri-C JazzFest, Ernie Krivda, Ken LeeGrand and Howie Smith were to take center stage in a round robin. But host Dominick Farinacci announced that LeeGrand would play his featured material first. “He has to get to a gig in Fairlawn at 3,” Farinacci explained. It was shortly after 2 p.m.
I was there and reviewed the concert for All About Jazz (you can read it here), so when I spoke with LeeGrand earlier this month, I had to ask him if he made it. “Yes I did. I got there–it was probably, like, 3:07, and the guys that I had assembled to do that [gig] knew what was going on, so they had already started. I didn’t even take the reeds off the horns. I left my reeds on. So when I got there, all I had to do was put the necks on the saxophones and put my stand together and roll.”
When it comes to music, “roll” is what Ken LeeGrand does—as an educator, instrumentalist, bandleader, griot and inspiration. Now 73, LeeGrand has been on the scene for so long, he essentially is the scene. So it makes perfect sense that during this weekend of homecomings and family reunions, his most enduring band, Horns And Things, will be featured at Ohio City’s Irishtown Bend Taproom.
There’s no point in burying the lede: if you’re a jazz fan living in Northeast Ohio, Tri-C JazzFest is a circle-the date event. And now it’s here.
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Friendly experiencers,
Pull up! I see this all over my social feeds, an exhortation from my musician friends to get out and experience the music the way it’s meant to be heard: live.
This weekend brings a pair of shows on the west side–both on Friday (are you superstitious?). Good luck deciding which one you’ll want to pull up to. While you make up your mind, enjoy tomorrow’s theme song in the composer’s authoritative version with all-timer Walter Theodore Rollins, who turned 94 last Saturday the 7th.
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The solstice may be days away, but with temperatures in the 90s this week, no one in northeast Ohio can deny the early arrival of summer. Man, it’s hard to get anything done when it’s this hot, but that’s not why today’s usual feature post is taking a break. Bigger things are happening in let’s call this land. We’re moving.
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