Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Jack Schantz is stepping down as artistic director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to pursue other artistic and personal interests. Schantz, who has served as artistic director for 15 years, will stay with the CJO through the 2008-2009 season if the the orchestra is unable to find a successor.
The trumpet and flugelhorn player also serves as the coordinator of jazz studies at the University of Akron. The move, Schantz explained, will allow him to perform in more intimate settings with the avant-garde group the Cleveland Jazz Unit.
Schantz suggested that his greatest joy in leading the CJO consisted in collaborating with the best players in jazz, both on stage and as guests. He hopes that his successor is someone with an international reputation who can catapult the CJO into the top ranks of global jazz bands.
“I think I’d like to see the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra play a more prominent role on the national, maybe even the international, level,” Schantz said.
More info: clevelandjazz.org
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
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Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
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