Rick Stone @ Nighttown 8/7/11
Jazz guitarist Rick Stone is yet another player on the New York and international jazz scenes with Cleveland roots. Born and raised in Parma (Valley Forge Class of ’74), Stone played in a bunch of rock bands in high school before discovering jazz at shows at the old Smiling Dog Saloon on West 25th Street.
Stone lives in Brooklyn, New York, teaches jazz guitar at several NYC colleges, tours extensively (he just completed a month in Europe), and returns to Cleveland each summer to do a show at Nighttown for family, friends and fans.
His two set show at Nighttown last Sunday was very enjoyable. It was a nice mix of jazz standards and original material. Backed by drums and bass, Stone did a great job on Irving Berlin’s “The Best Thing for You is Me,” Jimmy Van Huesen’s “Dance That Dream,” and Ornette Coleman’s “When Will the Blues Leave.”
His original material is just as varied with titles like “Key Lime Pie,” “Stella by Starlight,” and “Nachos Mama’s Blues.” He played several pieces from his current album Factels, including the title song, which had a little bit of B.B. King to it. Besides the king of the blues, other obvious influences for Stone include George Benson and Chet Adkins. It was a very enjoyable night of music and storytelling, as Stone gave a little background on each of the songs played.
For more about Rick Stone and his music visit http://RickStone.com. For more about Nighttown and all the great things they have going on there go to http://ClevelandNighttown.com.
Greg Cielec is a local writer who covers mostly music and sports for a variety of publications and websites. He is also a full time English and creative writing teacher at Streetsboro High School; an adjunct professor at BGSU Firelands College and Lakeland Community College; and a football coach at John Carroll University.
He has published two books of fiction, My Cleveland Story (1998) and Home and Away Games (2006), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michael Heaton has called him “the Mark Twain of Cleveland.” Check out his website and blog at http://www.GregCielec.com.