Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom sit down to talk about the annual Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, which takes place this year in Akron, Cleveland and online from August 26 through August 28. Live performances will take place on August 28 with Hubb’s Groove and Pieces of a Dream performing at the Akron Civic Theater at 8 p.m. (), and Bobby Selvaggio at the Bop Stop in Cleveland at 5 p.m. (). Virtual performances include Tommy Lehman’s Squadtet and the Lynn Speakman Quintet on August 26, the OpenTone Honors Band and Dan Wilson on August 27, and Rubber City Cribs and Matthew DeRubertis: Seer Music on...
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A Life in Time
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom are backstage with Philip Clark, a music journalist and author of Dave Brubeck - A Life in Time, which was selected by BBC Magazine as one of the 20 best books on music in 2020. Dave Brubeck remains a paradoxical figure in that he brought a sophisticated, often classically-inspired approach to jazz that could occasionally alienate his peers, while at the same time being one of the music’s most effective ambassadors to those who might otherwise not listen to it at all. The book sheds light on Brubeck as never before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz;...
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A Journey on Guitar
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom are backstage with guitarist Dan Wilson to talk about his musical career, his new album Vessels of Wood and Earth, the brilliance of Coming to America and more. The episode concludes with a performance of Be Nimble from Dan’s album Balancing Act. Growing up in Akron, Dan Wilson spent the majority of his youth within the church community, where his musical path began. Traces of his major guitar influences – including Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, and George Benson to name a few – can be discerned through his playing, but his musical identity has been shaped...
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One Love DEEZY
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom hang out backstage with saxophone player Nathan-Paul Davis, talking about his music career, influences, writing, and his latest album, Aquarius Lofi DEEZY, which features beats by HR3. The episode includes a performance of Day 21, featuring HR3 and Joey Skoch, from Aquarius Lofi DEEZY. Cleveland-based musician Nathan-Paul Davis grew up a pastor’s son and knows how to deliver sound medicine to the people. His velvety lo-fi sounds are a vibe-heavy should party, fusing modern trap, ‘70s funk and fiery southern gospel. Nathan-Paul is part of the soul band Wesley Bright and The...
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The NE Ohio Sound
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom are kicking it backstage with vocalist Evelyn Wright, drummer Robert Hubbard Jr., and performer Reggie Kelly, talking about the soul of the Northeast Ohio sound, influential musicians from the area, how Gospel musicians express themselves through jazz, and the importance of not taking your art for granted in the second of a two-part series. . Vocalist Evelyn Wright has been a professional singer for more than three decades with experience in jazz, R&B and pop. A native of Cleveland, Evelyn won the 1993 award for Most Promising Female Artist and Favorite Female R&B singer...
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An Akron Original
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom are backstage with trumpeter and vocalist Tommy Lehman to talk about his music career, how he made the switch from accounting to music, the collaborative nature of local musicians, and his upcoming album, Faith > Fear. The episode includes a performance of Growing Pains, recorded live at Blue Jazz in Akron. A native of Akron and a graduate of Firestone High School, Tri-C, and The Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, Tommy Lehman has been playing professionally for several years, regularly touring, recording, and performing with Acid Cats, Nathan-Paul and The Admirables, on...
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Reminiscing
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom are backstage with vocalist Evelyn Wright and drummer Robert Hubbard Jr. talking about the rich history of jazz music in Akron and Cleveland in the first of a two-part series. In Akron, legends like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles would perform at the Palace theater before heading to Howard Street, where fans waited at clubs such as the hi hat, the Green Turtle, and the Cosmopolitan. The entertainers would then stay overnight at the Mathews Hotel. In Cleveland, those same performers would play at such...
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Remembering a Young Lion
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom sit down backstage to talk about the life and legacy of drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., as well as the art behind composing music. Ralph Peterson Jr. sadly passed away on March 1, 2021, at the age of 58 after a six-year battle with cancer. Peterson was a drummer, bandleader, composer and educator who built a 40-year career after emerging in the 1980s as part of a peer group that came to be known as the Young Lions for their work around the resurgence of acoustic hard bop. He performed on albums by trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Donald Harrison; was the leader of bands...
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A Lasting Impact through Music
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom head backstage to talk with Chris Anderson, a musician and executive director of Open Tone Music in Akron, about performing in India, South Africa and other countries; the lasting impact of music education; and the growth of the Amistad Caribbean Arts Camp. Chris is the founder of , a non-profit organization that provides access to premier music education and performance programming for all people. Through Open Tone Music he has reached thousands of individuals in the northern Ohio area. In addition to being a successful music educator, Chris composes and performs many different...
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The Essence of Jazz
Backstage at the hi hat
Theron and Tom head backstage with Chris Coles, a musician, composer and educator from Cleveland, to talk about his career, dive into the entry points for exploring jazz music, and discuss his Nine Lives Project, which deals with the Charleston church shooting in 2015. The Nine Lives Project is an interdisciplinary multi-movement suite intended to heighten awareness of ongoing racial injustice in America. Chris first performed Nine Lives in 2015 as a workshop at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, before eventually turning it into a 40-minute performance piece thanks in part to a Knight Arts Challenge...
info_outlineTheron and Tom sit down backstage to talk about the life and legacy of drummer Ralph Peterson Jr., as well as the art behind composing music.
Ralph Peterson Jr. sadly passed away on March 1, 2021, at the age of 58 after a six-year battle with cancer. Peterson was a drummer, bandleader, composer and educator who built a 40-year career after emerging in the 1980s as part of a peer group that came to be known as the Young Lions for their work around the resurgence of acoustic hard bop.
He performed on albums by trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Donald Harrison; was the leader of bands like Triangular and Fo'tet, released around two dozen albums, and was the anointed heir of Art Blakey, a drummer and bandleader of the Jazz Messengers, whose ranks produced several generations of major jazz talent.
As an educator, Peterson taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Learn more about his life and music at ralphpetersonmusic.com.
(Photo courtesy of ralphpetersonmusic.com)