Thu 8/17 @ 8PM
Chicago-based acoustic bassist/composer/arranger/educator Joe Policastro is actually an Ohioan, who grew up in Cincinnati where he got his bachelor of music degree in jazz studio music at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.
He escaped Ohio by heading to Chicago’s DePaul University for his masters degree in jazz studies and soon settled in the Windy City with its large, active and diverse community of jazz musicians and small number of Trump voters. There he found opportunities to sharpen his chops by performing and recording with many other musicians, and to form his own ensemble, the Joe Policastro Trio, with guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Mikel Avery, which incorporates rock, soul, funk, Brazilian and free jazz influences. Together they’ve made three albums of his original arrangements and compositions and arrangements: 2013’s West Side Story Suite for Jazz Trio, 2016’s Pops! and the new Screen Sounds.
He describes his group as “an alternative jazz trio (some people call it modern creative) that performs re-workings of non-jazz music (rock, soul, pop, movie/TV, etc,) in addition to our originals and select jazz compositions. They’re currently on tour and they’ll make a stop at Nighttown this week.
Tickets are $10.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106