UA jazz festival pays homage to genre's past, present in Akron

This article is a reprint of an article written by Kerry Clawson for the Akron Beacon Journal on March 31, 2023.

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As jazz artists and educators Chris Coles and Theron Brown rejuvenate the University of Akron Jazz Program, they've brought UA's Jazz Week back for the first time in four years.

University of Akron Jazz Week 2023 will feature guest artists Sean Jones, a famed trumpeter and Warren native; and New York-based trombonist and composer Sam Blakeslee, who studied jazz at Youngstown State University and received a 2013 master's in classical performance at The University of Akron. They'll be playing in four gigs with UA jazz faculty members Brown and Coles, the UA Student Jazz Ensemble and other local jazz artists.

The festival is a signature event for saxophonist Coles and pianist Brown as they rebuild the jazz program. UA's Student Jazz Ensemble has grown by five musicians since the fall, with bass, piano and horn players added second semester. Several new jazz majors and minors also have received scholarship support to start their studies in the fall, after a period where UA had no jazz majors.

Trombonist and composer Sam Blakeslee. Photo courtesy of The University of Akron

 Jazz kickoff Tuesday at Edgar's

The week begins Tuesday night at Edgar's Restaurant in Akron, starting with a meet and greet and hors d'oeuvres at 6:30 p.m. at 530 Nome Ave. Admission is $20 at the door.

Music will start at about 7:30 p.m., featuring a set with Jones, Blakeslee, Brown, Coles and local bassist Aidan Plank and drummer Anthony Taddeo. Local hip hop duo Free Black!, featuring Holbrook Riles III and Floco Torres, will follow.

The 2023 festival's mission is to pay tribute to University of Akron and Akron jazz musicians of the past and celebrate the talent of today's artists and those coming up in the future. It also gives UA jazz students access to the talents and experience of world-class jazz artists for the first since Jazz Week was put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic.

"Exposing our students to world-class jazz musicians, it gets them a better understanding of where they fit into the lexicon of how jazz artists work," said Marc Reed, director of the UA School of Music and the School of Dance, Theatre and Arts Administration. "It really just serves to kind of stoke their fire."

The last, 17th annual Jazz Week was held in 2019 under retired jazz program director Jack Schantz, who taught both Brown and Coles.

Over the years, the UA festival has drawn international jazz stars including Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Current guest Jones is also a major figure in the trumpet world, Reed said.

"I'm also a trumpet player and Sean Jones is, in my opinion, one of the best jazz trumpet players out there," Reed said.

Pros, students perform at Blu Jazz+ Wednesday

On Wednesday, the UA Student Jazz Ensemble will perform in a show with Jones, Blakeslee, UA jazz faculty and guests at 8 p.m. at Blu Jazz+, 47 E. Market St.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Cost is $10 or free for students. See blujazzakron.com for reservations.

Trumpeter Sam Jones. Photo courtesy of The University of Akron

Jazz convocation, open forum in Thursday at Guzzetta

Jazz Week events will move to UA Thursday, with a free, public convocation from 12:55 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at Guzzetta Recital Hall, 157 University Ave. Jones and Columbus native Blakeslee will talk about their jazz careers and how they relate to Ohio.

Jones, who has an undergraduate degree from YSU and a master's from Rutgers, is an international touring artist whose career ranges from leading the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to playing in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He's now chair of jazz studies at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Thursday night, a free Open Forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Guzzetta, including conversation with guest artists Jones and Blakeslee and faculty Coles and Brown, a Q&A and some jamming.

Jazz Week finale 'Synthesis' at E.J. Thomas Hall Stage Door

Jazz Week will culminate with a special concert, "Synthesis," at 7:30 p.m. April 7 at the Stage Door at E.J. Thomas Hall, 198 Hill St.. Concert tickets cost $12 or free for students.

The concert will feature Jones, Blakeslee, the UA Student Jazz Ensemble and the UA Wind Symphony, conducted by Galen Karriker. The wind symphony will play Omar Thomas' "Come Sunday" and selections from Miles Davis' album "Miles Ahead."

 "It's fitting that it's on Good Friday," Coles said of the concert, including "Come Sunday." "It's kind of an homage to the Black church and all the customs and musical language that comes with that."

A highlight will be musician and composer Blakeslee's "Flowers for Rubber City," a seven-part suite commissioned for UA Jazz Week that pays tribute to historic Akron jazz greats plus the jazz teachers who built the UA program and continue to rejuvenate it. The piece ties Akron's jazz history together as Coles and Brown are bringing UA's program back.

One of the Northeast Ohio jazz artists who has influenced Coles and Brown is Jones, whom they played for with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.

"He's inspired us because he's just a little Ohio boy and he's gone out and made waves in the jazz community world," Brown. "Him coming back to play this concert is super special."

Blakeslee composed "Flowers for Rubber City" around its seven honorees and arranged each movement for the UA Student Jazz Ensemble to play.

The seven sections are:

• "Luz Das Estrelas:" dedicated to the late Roland Paolucci, founder and professor emeritus of UA Jazz Studies.
• "Parables of Truth:" dedicated to professor emeritus Schantz.
• "Mr. Magnetic:" dedicated to UA jazz professor Brown.
• "Heart Cave:" dedicated to UA jazz professor Coles.
• "The Pugilist:" dedicated to Waymon “Punchy” Atkinson, long-time Akron-based saxophonist.
• "Fluctuating Frequencies:" dedicated to Jimmy Noel, a saxophone legend of Akron's Howard Street jazz music scene.
• "Bittle’s Riddle:" dedicated to the late Ed Bittle, who with his wife Fran Bittle have supported the festival with the Bittle Jazz Residency since 2003.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.