Fri 4/5 @ 8PM

It’s been a while but many local jazz lovers will remember a young Akron trumpet player and composer named Josh Rzepka, who performed around the area extensively after getting his undergrade degree at Oberlin and his master’s at Boston University, training in both classical music and jazz ‑ until he moved to Chicago in 2014.

His teaching and performance schedule in the hive of jazz activity has kept him busy (he’s currently doing masterclasses at top music programs around the country) so it’s been a couple of years since he’s been back to play for local fans. He’s returning to the area for the first time in two years, to Akron’s Blu Jazz+ where he played the venue’s opening concert a decade ago just before decamping. And when he does, he’ll be joined by three of the brightest stars of the younger generation of northeast Ohio jazz musicians: two fellow Oberlin Conservatory grads a decade younger than himself, bassist Jordan McBride and drummer Zaire Darden, and one of the area’s best younger jazz guitarists Dan Bruce. Rzepka is promising to bring along some freshly written compositions to play for his old friends.

Get tickets at blujazzakron.com/ or at the door.