Walter Smith III -

When There Is No Sun: An Eclipse Playlist

Published 8 April, 2024 By John Chacona

You might have heard about a certain celestial phenomenon occurring today. Cleveland, where I live, is in the path of full totality and hundreds of thousands of astronomical tourists are expected to arrive for the show. But what’s a show without music, right? So herewith a playlist of eclipse-themed music to entertain you while you’re searching for your polarized glasses.

P.S. If you were expecting a Sp*tify playlist, know that there might not be an artist here who will qualify for mini-micro-nanopayments under the company’s new compensation structure. Sp*tify can go where the sun don’t shine.

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A Great Week in Cleveland, Part 1: Ben Wendel and Joel Ross

Published 20 March, 2023 By John Chacona

Ben Wendel Credit Anouk van Kalmthout — photocredit Anouk van Kalmthout

When I moved to Cleveland in late 2019, I was eager to plunge full-time into a jazz scene that looked like New York’s to me. That notion might be laughable to longtime citizens of The Land, but from the jazz desert of Erie, Pennsylvania, that’s how Cleveland looked to me. Consider this ten-day period in Sept. 2019 when Bop Stop presented a cavalcade of stars that would make even the most hardened New York booker bow in respect and awe.

Even with stars in my eyes I knew that such intervals are few and far between. But every rule needs an exception as proof, and one has arrived this week where in the course of three nights, Cleveland will host concerts by the brilliant tenor saxophonist Ben Wendel, vibes wizard Joel Ross and the mesmerizing poet, community activist and truth-teller Moor Mother.

Trefoil, An All-Star Team of Ambrose Akinmusire, Gerald Cleaver & Kris Davis, Come To Bop Stop

Published 16 March, 2022 By John Chacona

When the final buzzer sounded at the NBA All-Star Game on February 20, it was the end of All-Star weekend in Cleveland but it was the opening bell for an all-star month of jazz. First came the March 3 appearance at Tri-C of the Jazz Gallery All-Stars (previewed here), a band that in every way lived up to its name. Starting Sunday, the action shifts to Bop Stop at the Music Settlement where Ambrose Akinmusire and Dr. Eddie Henderson, two of the leading voices of the jazz trumpet will appear in a three-day span. And that’s not all.

Akinmusire will be in Cleveland as part of a new trio, Trefoil, of pianist Kris Davis and drummer Gerald Cleaver, all-stars in their own right. The term supergroup is overused, but there’s no other way to describe this collaboration.

Tag: Walter Smith III

When There Is No Sun: An Eclipse Playlist

A Great Week in Cleveland, Part 1: Ben Wendel and Joel Ross

Trefoil, An All-Star Team of Ambrose Akinmusire, Gerald Cleaver & Kris Davis, Come To Bop Stop