Local Exposure: Recent Episodes
Jim Nolan
The Voyage Jazz Ensemble recorded and mixed their new CD days before the pandemic closed everything down. The album, Rites of Passage is available now.
NYC- based jazz trombonist/composer Sam Blakeslee's bringing his new chamber music jazz project, "Wistful Thinking," to Caffe Vivace on March 19th from 8-11pm. An Ohio native, he spoke by phone with Ron Esposito on March 10th about his Wistful Thinking project, trombone influences, and playing an interesting blend of jazz genres. Playing with him that night will be guitarist Brandon Coleman and bassist Matt Wiles.
UPDATE (3/10/20): Just heard from Jeff that his Nashville concert with Jack Jones has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, so he won't be bringing his Mapex drums to Cincinnati for the induction performance with the Blue Wisp Big Band.
Local musician Rick Lisak sat down last week with Elaine Diehl to talk about his new cd, Songs of the Ohio River Valley, recorded with Zach Rowe. During the interview, Rick discusses how he and Zach came together to form Lisak & Rowe and also how they compose songs together.
Guitarist Albert Lee's coming back to Southgate House Revival in Newport, Kentucky, on Wednesday, January 8th. Show starts at 8pm.
Elaine Diehl spoke by phone with singer/songwriter Livingston Taylor on November 14th about his upcoming concert at the 20th Century Theater on December 4th. He's also been teaching at the Berklee College of Music for 30 years.
Singer/songwriter Raye Zaragoza dropped by the studio on her way to her gig at Ludlow Garage on Tuesday afternoon, November 12th, where she opened for the Rising Appalachia band.
Local singer-songwriter Molly Sullivan is a bit of an enigma. Many of her songs have, so far, gone unrecorded, and she tends to limit her online presence. When she joined me in the studio, I had very little in front of me in terms of notes or prepared questions, so, I thought, "Let’s just start talking and see where it goes."
Harlem 100, featuring Mwenso & the Shakes, is a unique collaboration with the National Jazz History Museum in Harlem that’s currently on a 32-city tour around the country. The event is a celebration of the 100th anniversity of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem-based jazz band, Mwenso & the Shakes, will be on stage at Hall Auditorium in Miami University Saturday, November 2nd.
Newport's Mentoring Plus is a small nonprofit supporting local high school students needing academic help but also providing a safe haven for friendship, food, and more. Local musician and former judge Mickey Foellger will be part of a fundraising music festival on November 2 at the Southgate House Revival.
Sawyer Fredericks is bringing his band to Southgate House Revival in Newport, Kentucky, on Thursday evening, October 24th to promote the 11/9 release of their new single, "Flowers for You." The album will be coming out in Spring, 2020. The song was recorded at Dreamland Recordings in Woodstock and was written and produced by Sawyer.
Blues guitarist Coco Montoya and his band are coming to the Sorg Opera House in Middletown on Thursday night, October 24th for one show only at 8pm. Their sounds are surely going to rock out given the great acoustics in this hall which is loved by the musicians who play there. It's an intimate setting, so the audience will be up close and personal to these blues musicians.
The poet Francis Duggan called Death “The Great Equalizer.” No matter who you are, where you come from or what you believe, all of us will one day leave this existence.
The movie, "The Mountain Minor," is coming to the Esquire Theatre on Thursday, October 17th and Sunday, October 20th at 7pm each evening. There's a q&a session after each showing and an after party at Sitwell's on Thursday evening with live music, too. The director, Dale Farmer, and two of the actor/musicians Ma Crow and Mike Oberst from the Tillers came into the studio this morning to talk about this film.
The sound of Fickle Hellcat is best described as "Vintage Indie Rock," but the music created by Rachel Maxann, Mike Wiley and Paul Swabek comes from an enormous universe of influences.
MOIRA is a 3-piece dream pop band with origins in Dayton, OH. Their new EP Demons + Daisies is a follow-up to their 2015 release entitled Asleep/Repeat/Awake.
Frank Zappa once said, “You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.”
Freddie Meyer, the original drummer and singer of Ivan & The Sabers, a popular Ohio band in the early to mid-60s, later formed his own band Salvation & His Army (while studying TV production at UC). Doug Yeager took the band to France in 1968 where Meyer became a star and protege of Brigitte Bardot. He's lived in France the past 51 years. Lee Hay recently spoke by phone with Freddie's longtime friend Doug Yeager about him.
Cheryl Renee dropped by WVXU's studio recently to talk about the Women of the Blues benefit concert at the Southgate House Revival on Sunday afternoon, September 29th from 2-6pm. This concert benefits Play It Forward which is a "Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping area musicians in times of critical need."
Chicago bluegrass band Cox's Army will pre-release their new album, "New Richmond Town," at the Front Street Cafe in New Richmond, Ohio, on Saturday evening, October 5th at 7pm. The album's release date is planned for November, 2019.