All music used with permission by Charlie Ballentine. Thank You-Ballentine Sweet Tooth-Ballentine Strange Idea-Ballentine Wayfairing Stranger-Ballentine Snow Angel-Ballentine Off Minor-Monk Midwestern Love Story-Ballantine Kilgore in Timequake-Ballentine No Damn Cat, No Damn Cradle-Ballentine  This week -Indianapolis based guitarist Charlie Ballentine returns to our stage and to our program – this time in front of a live audience. Charlie released two albums in 2021 ; cold coffee is a collection of his own works and life is brief – a tribute to Bob Dylan, which landed on Jazziz magazine’s ..read more

All music used with permission by Matthew Shipp. New York City based pianist Matthew Ship has a thirty year catalog as a bandleader, session player and core member of David Ware’s quartet. Known initially as a free jazz performer, Matthew Shipp broadened his audio palate to explore contemporary classical and electronica. First and foremost, though he delights in improvisation, and that is on full display in this solo performance which occurred ahead of his 2021 release Codebreaker. Presented in conjunction with our friends at No Exit, and courtesy of a grant from the Jazz Roads foundation, fro ..read more

All music used with permission by Snarky Puppy Horns.       Bread Sandwiches - Wright Make Me Say - Maz Oriental Folk Song - Shorter Anti Jam - Bullock Always on the Move - Jennings Quarter Master - League   Four-time Grammy award winning Snarky Puppy really doesn’t need an introduction. The full group coalesce around the University of North Texas in the early 2000s and grew into a collective juggernaut that sits at the vanguard of contemporary jazz.  The horn section stands alone, performing not only with Snarky Puppy and other groups around Dallas and F ..read more

All music used with permission by Michael Formanek Drome Trio.       Tattarrattat - Formanek Little PeaDrome  - Formanek New Drome - Formanek NA -  With Chach - Formanek   Michael Formanek has been described as “a bold and unclassifiable bassist and composer,” and his trio graced our stage for the first time in three years in support of their latest release Were We Where We Were. The music from that album, and this performance, is based on a set of musical palindromes that started out as graphic scores and were then reinterpreted into conventional musi ..read more

  All music used by permission from David Friend, Jerome Begin and Sammy DeLeon. David Friend is a classically-trained pianist who focuses on new and experimental music and collaborates frequently with groups including Bent Duo, Grand Bang and Alarm Will Sound. Jerome Begin has extensive experience as a composer in dance and theater and has a deep understanding of the dynamics of live performance.  Together, they graced our stage with a performance of Post, a set of pieces for solo piano with extensive processing that explores a different way of creating an uncanny valley type of rea ..read more

All music used with permission by Jackie Warren and Josh Smith.       NA -  NA -   How Insensitive - Jobim Stars Fell on Alabama - Perkins NA -   If I Were a Bell - Loesser NA -  Triste - Jobim Lush Life - Strayhorn   Jackie Warren and Joshua Smith are musical siblings who have performed in Northeast Ohio and beyond for over two decades. Their experiments as a stripped down piano and saxophone duo led to their 2020 release The Bees Knees. They join us for this performance featuring songs from that release and new material they’re preparing fo ..read more

All music used with permission by Occidental Gypsy.       It Don't Mean a Think (If it Ain't Got That Swing) - Ellington/Mills Messalina - Feldman Douce Ambiance - Reinhardt Georgia on My Mind - Carmichael/Gorrell Betty's Bossa - Feldman It's Only a Paper Moon - Arlen/Harburg/Rose Minor Swing - Reinhardt Gypsy Blues - Feldman/Bishop/Frantz/Chapman Shine - Mack/Dabney/Brown A Day With Paula May - Feldman Tonight - Feldman/Bishop 44070: Song for Verba - Feldman The House I Live In - Robinson/Meerpol Thriller - Temperton   An Occidental Gypsy show is, without question, the m ..read more

All music used with permission by Soul Message.       Close Your Eyes - Petkere The Breeze and I - Lecuona Midnight Special - Smith DD Blues - Foreman Shiny Stockings - Foster One For My Baby - Arlen   Chicago based Soul Message Band has spent 25 years perfecting the organ trio sound jazz connoisseurs have come to know and love. Hammond B3 Organ Player Chris Forman is a legend and his quarter century partnership with drummer Greg Rockingham have taken various trios around the world on tours both as headliners and as an opening act for Steely Dan. In addition to recording ..read more

All music used with permission by Tommy Lehman and the Squad-Tet.       Sonic Shrine - Lehman To Be Alive - Lehman Under the Rug - Lehman Goodbye Pork Pie Hat - Mingus Focus on the Rainbow - Coles     Northeast Ohio based Tommy Lehman is one of the hardest working performers on the local jazz scene. Between his work with JT’s Electric Blackout, Alla Boara, Alba Trio, Nathan Paul and the Admirables and Dan Wilson and Voices among others, Tommy leads several additional groups, not the least of which is the Squad-Tet. The Squad-Tet itself is a collection of accomplished ..read more

All music used with permission by Krant, Carlock and Lefevbre.       Rushdie - Carlock/Lefebvre War Torn Johnny - Carlock/Lefebvre It's No Fun Not to Like Pop - Carlock/Lefebvre The Earth From Above - Carlock/Lefebvre Jeff Beck - Carlock/Lefebvre Wine is the Thread - Carlock/Lefebvre Left it on the Playground - Carlock/Lefebvre Mosley - Carlock/Lefebvre     Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock and Tim Lefevbre form a powerhouse trio of improvisational jazz, when they aren’t busy being sidemen for artists such as Steely Dan, Tedeschi-Trucks and John Mayer.  With an improv ..read more