Holy cow. Look at all the cool things going on this week. Ingenuity Cleveland Ingeneer Jacci Hammer has put together Fashion Rocks at the Beachland. Enjoy music, art, fun & food at the Edgewater NeighborFest. And let’s not forget the return of Tri-C JazzFest.We got to know legendary DJ Billy Bass a while back doing a session at the Music Box on Bowie. Now he’s back there talking about the glory days of WIXY 1260. Author Isabel Wilkerson couldn’t be more timely in her talk at the Maltz. There are free outdoor events at Lake View Cemetery, Public Square, Larchmere Porchfest and Tremont’s Lincoln Park.
The highlight of the week will (no doubt) be the triumphant return of Vanity Crash to Akron on Friday, then Cleveland on Saturday. Someone each night wins a cool retro metal lunch box, and everyone else gets to dance their heads off. Crash those cymbals and raise them to the sky.
Let’s try something new. A slew of fun new music from Vanity Crash, yes. But in between, some short explainers, interviews, videos, offering the back story, the deep dive, the dish, the behind-the-scenes stories you really want to hear, and can usually only guess at.
One lucky guest each night will walk away with a free retro metal lunch box. Everyone leaves with a free download. Plus you can pick up an NFT certificate, and rock the night away at the coolest clubs in the region: Fri 06.24 at Jilly’s Music Room in Akron; and Sat 06.25 at BOP STOP in Cleveland. Everyone knows the Crash is coming. But no one suspected that it would feel this good. Check out the cool video trailer and read more.
We could talk for hours with jazz legends John Clayton (bassist, arranger, co-founder of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra) and John Pizzarelli (guitarist, vocalist and collaborator), as they both have the most amazing stories and experiences going back decades.
The two headliners share with CoolCleveland about the challenge and fun of revisiting legendary music and making it one’s own. They even spill the beans, sharing one Frank Sinatra story each. But to hear more, you’ll need to be at their show when they perform on Sat 6/25 at 8:15PM as part of the Tri-C 2022 JazzFest. Read more.
The Cleveland Ballet returns to Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace Theatre in October to kick off its first full season in two years. It includes two beloved repertoire staples, along with a program featuring two new works for the company, one new, one a revival of an old Balanchine work. Read more
David Brock talks with CoolCleveland immediately after being elected chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party last weekend at the Democratic Party Central Committee meeting.
Chairman Brock discusses his plans for reversing the decline of Democratic Party energy in the region, and the first things on his to-do list. With the upcoming fall election and key races locally and for governor and U.S. senator from Ohio, there is a lot of work to do.
Musicians have always spoken through their looks as well as their sounds. Local fashion designer Jacci Hammer, who is also one of Ingenuity Cleveland’s Ingeneers, has put together looks for a diverse group of musician/models, who’ll be showing them off on the runway at Fashion Rocks at the Beachland Ballroom Wed. 6/29.
The evening is a fully produced fashion show with lights, images and special guest acts augmenting the diverse looks.It’s supplemented by a photo show of Cleveland musicians modeling fashion now on view at the Space: ROCK Gallery on Waterloo. Read more.
Headed by Snarky Puppy’s duo Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, Ghost-Note is an explosion of sound pushing funk into the future.
The group builds on the pioneering foundations laid out by James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone, and infuses their fresh take with Afrobeat, hip-hop, psychedelia and more.
See them at JazzFest Fri 06.24 at 9:30PM in the Mimi Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square!. Read more.
MON 6/27 Public Art Join Tremont-based ceramic artist Angelica Pozo in the neighborhood’s Lincoln Park for a talk about the tile wall there she created with the community’s participation.
TUE 6/28 New Energy Hear from Cleveland’s newly appointed Director of Planning Joyce Pan Huang at the City Club’s free outdoor forum on Public Square.
WED 6/29 Big Bang The biggest night of the summer for Wade Oval Wednesdays is the one before July 4 when Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S. Band and fireworks combine to draw a crowd.
Now that the pandemic is allegedly waning, it seems that face masks are going the way of the pet rock and the hula hoop. I had occasion to fly both domestic and international over the last month and surprisingly, there were few masks in airports, hotels and on flights. Maskless flight attendants seemed perfectly safe interacting with passengers. Read more
I vividly remember the first time I saw the video of the death of George Floyd. I was eating lunch and watching CNN. Before the news segment ended, I had already dialed my friend, the late Mansfield Frazier, telling him to turn on his TV. “You got to see this one,” I yelled into the phone. “The police just killed another Black guy!” Read more
