Live at the Bop Stop

Performance and Works used with permission from the artist and venue. internationally acclaimed drummer and percussionist Bill Ransom, Aretha Franklin, Marion Meadows, Cecil Bridgewater, Diane Reeves, Mary Wilson, and James Newton. This performance features selections from his album Generations, along with some jazz standards. From January 25 th , 2025 and featuring Ken LeeGrand on Winds, Kip Reed...

Performance and Works used with permission from the artist and venue. Embracing his love for a vast variety of stylistic genres, three-time GRAMMY nominee, Troy Roberts is one of today's most widely recorded touring artists.   His name adorns several essential recordings ranging from the legendary Joey DeFrancesco, the iconic Van Morrison, and the critically acclaimed Kurt Elling. He's also a prol...

This performance used with permission from Bryan Kennard and The Music Settlement. The Bop Stop celebrated its 10th year under the auspices of The Music Settlement in 2024 by commissioning ten original Big Band pieces from ten different Ohio composers. We then took those pieces and rounded up 17 performers to form the All Star Bop Stop Big Band and put on a show to celebrate our birthday. Featurin...

This performance used by permission from Bryan Kennard and The Music Settlement. The Bop Stop celebrated its 10th year under the auspices of The Music Settlement in 2024 by commissioning ten original Big Band pieces from ten different Ohio composers. We then took those pieces and rounded up 17 performers to form the All Star Bop Stop Big Band and put on a show to celebrate our birthday. Featuring...

This performance used with permission from Eli Leder. Northeast Ohio's educational organizations are committed to identifying and developing young talent, and were proud to feature an emerging trio of young musicians on this weeks program. All three performers in the Eli Leder Trio emerged from the Tri-C JazzFest Academy and perform in the Spirit of the Groove under the tutelage of Dominic Farinac...

All performances used with artist permission. 2025 has come and gone and left a plethora of outstanding performances in its wake. We hope you've enjoyed the program this year and enjoy this episode as we look back at some of the best performances to grace our stage. Jamey Haddad feturing John Shannon - Cardinal Chris Burge - Land of Smiles Eli Leder Trio - Poinciana Gabi Alemana - Nice Work If You...

This performance used with permission from Nate Yingling Youngstown native pianist and bassist Nate Yingling returns as part of our Trio Tussle series with a new set of electric tunes born of frequent collaborations with bassist Darren Frate. When he isn't touring with guitarist Vlad Cetkar, Nate is a composer and educator who also coordinates the Argonaut Rowing Club collective. Nate and Darren a...

This performance used with permission from Andru Dennis. Every jazz scene, large or small, has a performer who serves as the glue that holds groups together. They're not necessarily the person that leads but they're almost always the person who helps others shine.   In Northeast Ohio in general, and Akron specifically, Andru Dennis is that performer. Andru's name is almost never on the marquee, bu...

This performance used with permission from Dan Bruce. Ohm! is the latest project from Cleveland based guitarist Dan Bruce. Dan cut his teeth in the jazz scenes in Chicago and Dallas before returning home to Northeast Ohio to continue his career as a performer and educator. You've heard the trio on the program before with a duo of performers from Pittsburgh, but this configuration features Clevelan...

This performance used with permission from the artist. Ari Hoenig is a jazz drummer, composer and educator known for his unusual and intense approach to drumming emphasizing complex rhythms in direct harmony with other group members. Ari is widely noted particularly for his drumming not being relegated to just keeping tempo, or being a side issue to the music he plays in, but rather for elevating...

Performance used with permission from the artist. Chicago based Gabi Allemana is a Brazilian-American vocalist who studies and performs with notable musicians like La Tanya Hall, Gerald Cannon, and Eddie Henderson.   Raised with a jazz foundation and Brazilian heritage, Allemana's early career included performances with Uniting Voices Chicago and collaborations with icons such as Yo-Yo Ma and Bobb...

Performance used by permission of the artist. Thriving jazz communities offer performers at all skill levels not only stages to play on but places to compose and perform original works. Northeast Ohio is no different, and the Third Law Collective is the Music Settlement's initiative with this goal in mind. Periodically musicians from throughout the area meet up and share original works with each o...

Performance used with permission from the artist. Washington DC based Sea Change was when bassist Stephen Arnold was asked to lead a band at the Göethe-Institut's Jazz in the Basement series. Featuring a rotating set of band members, the groups most recent release Until Now is a nine-song suite that documents the end of the pandemic and beginning of the romantic relationship between longtime frien...

Performance used with permission from the artist. Since 2014, contemporary jazz band Spin Cycle has been bringing their original music to clubs and concert halls across the US and Canada. Co-lead by Drummer Scott Neumann and Saxophonist Tom Christensen, the band highlights their flexibility, reach and capacity to surprise audiences. On any given song, you might encounter the modal influence of Joh...

Performance used with permission from the artist.   Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, pianist and composer Marta Sánchez is actively working in the contemporary creative music scene in New York City and around the globe. Charting a significant path through her innovative and original music, she has reached an international audience, gaining significant global recognition. When not   playing and re...

Performance used with permission from the artist. You could argue at this point that Theron Brown is the glue that holds the Akron, Ohio jazz scene together. Between his work as the founder and director of the annual Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival, the artistic director of the I Promise School, the artist coordinator for the Curated Storefront and his heavy involvement with the Jazz Education...

Performance used with permission from the artist. In 2014, Monika Herzig had the idea to bring together fellow jazz musicians with the goal of presenting powerful role models on stage as a way of breaking some lingering stereotypes following a path initially paved by Sherri Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra in the '90s. That effort paid off then and continues to pay off now as you'll hear in thi...

Performance used with permission from the artists. Detroit based Anthony Stanco, embodies the soulful essence of the city's musical legacy. Fueled by the city's vibrant rhythms, Stanco honed his craft under the tutelage of local luminaries like Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker, absorbing their wisdom like the note of a melody. As leader of The Crucial Elements, Stanco commands attention with a...

This performance used by permission of the artist. THE OBLIVION PROJECT was formed in 2003, is dedicated to the exploration and performance of the over 3000 Nuevo Tango works of Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla. The musicians from all across the Americas have collaborated to explore and share the uncompromisingly unique, unequivocally attractive language of Piazzolla's tangos. We are extreme...

Performance used by permission from Joe Leaman. Akron based Joe Leaman is an in-demand percussionist, pianist, composer, arranger and educator with an active following throughout Northeastern Ohio.   For this performance, Joe leads a quintet in exploring the music of Trinidad and Tobago but with a jazz twist.   If you're a fan of Victor Provost or Andy Narell you'll be familiar with the steel drum...

This performance used with permission from David Janeway. Detroit native David Janeway cut his teeth with Marcus Belgrave and Harold McKinney before moving to New York in the late 1970s, and the enduring influences of both Motown and Latin Jazz are evident in his music. One of New York's most thoughtful composers, David's trio makes its Bop Stop debut in support of their second album 'Forward Moti...

Guitarist Dan Bruce and Pianist Theron Brown are frequent quests on the program, so they don't really need much of an introduction. They both have their own unique style and appear here in advance of their recent releases. For Theron Brown this was 2024's Spirit Fruit and for Dan Bruce this was his 2025 release with his trio project Ohm!. They both serve as Artistic Directors of regional jazz fest...

Performance used with permission from the Scheen Jazzorkester The Scheen Jazzorkester was founded in 2010 and has evolved into the the regional Jazz Orchestra of the Southern Jazz Center in Norway. It has succeeded in becoming a major force in Norwegian progressive composer-based ensembles along with similar units in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, and has released eight critically acclaimed albums. T...

Performance used with permission from Alex Anest. The Detroit based Alex Anest Trio explores both original tunes and compositions from some of the greats on this organ trio performance. And its territory Alex knows well with appearances on over three dozen albums under his belt including a half dozen as a group leader. Alex anchors the group's sound on guitar, but Jim Alfredson mans the Hammond B3...

Buffalo based Adam Bronstein is a guitar player known for his clever songwriting and playful improvisation. Focusing on guitar at the forefront of its sound, his trio's music is instrumental with influences ranging from jazz through Hip Hop, R&B and Psychedelia. We were excited to catch Adam on a recent trip to his native Buffalo, and even more excited when he appeared on tour at the Bop Stop for...