Thu 12/8 @ 7-9PM
Bass guitarist Dan Agnotti put together the Danjo Jazz Orchestra in 2010 when he returned home to Kent after a music career in Los Angeles where he began collecting the big-band charts Danjo would eventually play. Agnotti began to collect musicians, often providing students with their first professional opportunity, mixing them with seasoned musicians for an ensemble that’s extremely age- and experience-diverse. Agnotti retired as the band’s leader in 2019, passing the reins to bass trombone player/drummer/composer/arranger Andrew Wiegerski, a recent University of Akron grad.
From playing regular Tuesdays at various Kent venues, the band has extended its reach to festivals, special events and other clubs such Jilly’s Music Room in Akron where its 17 members squeeze onto the stage for a monthly first Thursday residency.
Last week it performed its Christmas show there and now it’s bringing that show north to Cleveland’s BOP STOP. The evening will include music by Vince Guaraldi (who wrote the now-standard “Christmas Time Is Here” for the TV special A Very Snoopy Christmas), Harry Connick Jr. and Tom Kubis, as well as big-band jazz arrangements by Paul Ferguson, head of the jazz studies program at Case Western Reserve, and Wiegerski himself.
Get tickets here.