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Tag: Bop Stop

Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO April 18-25

Published 18 April, 2024 By John Chacona

Friendly experiencers,

A reaction to a COVID booster swamped my Tuesday preview (staying healthy is making me sick!) and a badly timed security certificate expiration wiped out my Wednesday. So to make up, it’s time for an expanded Thursday Countdown–not that I needed an excuse because the coming week is high-key loaded with notable jazz events. Touring artists and local luminaries alike await your appreciative ears and enthusiastic applause. So take a portion of that tax refund check (you DID get those done, right?) and head out to a club or concert hall near you and make the momentum happen.

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Countdown: Where To Go & What To Hear In NEO April 11-17

Published 11 April, 2024 By John Chacona
The Jazz-Bins, (from left) Joe Dyson, Marc Ribot, Greg Lewis

Friendly experiencers,

Monday’s Great Celestial Gig In The Sky is going to be hard to top. On the other hand, NEO jazz fans don’t have to wait 200 years for next big show to arrive, April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and there’s much to appreciate in the area’s clubs, concert halls and other venues. Here are four such shows, all filled with blindingly original and exciting players. File your taxes, mow the lawn and reward yourself with the best music Northeast Ohio has to offer.

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Jason Roebke’s Music Is ‘Transgressive In A Positive Way’

Published 2 April, 2024 By John Chacona
Jason_Roebke
photocredit: Lawrence Minor

According to the map app on my phone, Chicago is five hours away by car, a scant six by Amtrak. To anyone who has ever wasted an hour creeping along I-480, this is the equivalent to a pleasant Sunday drive. So why do so few members of the Windy City’s stupefyingly abundant music scene make the trip?

It’s a fair question, but don’t think about it for too long. Better to luxuriate in the opportunity to hear four of Chicago’s best when New Ghosts presents bassist Jason Roebke’s quartet at BOP STOP Sunday.

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Nik Bärtsch’s RONIN Builds Mesmerizing Ritual On A Groove

Published 21 March, 2024 By John Chacona
Nik Bärtsch's RONIN by Boris Mueller
from left; Sha, Keller, Bärtsch, Rast (photocredit: Boris Mueller)

In the Japanese martial art of aikido, awase, is a state of harmonious movement with one’s partner. Little wonder that Swiss pianist, Nik Bärtsch, a skilled aikido practitioner, chose Awase as the title of the 2018 ECM Records release by his RONIN quartet, which will return to BOP STOP Sunday night.

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The Canadian Jazz Collective Make A Case for Toronto Jazz at BOP STOP

Published 19 March, 2024 By John Chacona
Canadian Jazz Collective

It should probably come as no surprise that the wonderfully diverse, world-class city of Toronto is home to a vibrant jazz scene. Just don’t expect to hear about it from a Canadian.

Though chest-pounding exhibitionism is anathema to the unfailingly polite, deferential Canadian character, a group of Toronto’s best will arrive in town this weekend with proof of concept. They call themselves the Canadian Jazz Collective, and though the name implies a certain one-for-all modesty, these six musicians could easily be called the Canadian All-Stars.

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