The Cleveland Greats Concert Series, curated by Aidan Plank, features and celebrates the great musical contributions of musicians residing in the Cleveland area. Featured artists include notable performers, educators, and mentors to the musicians on the current Cleveland jazz scene as well as musicians spread throughout the world. The concerts feature musical selections from the featured artist as well as anecdotes and insights about jazz music and Cleveland history.

Tonight we feature Howie Smith on sax!

Howie Smith has presented concerts and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Australia, and has worked with musicians, composers and ensembles as varied as Anthony Braxton, Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Elvis Presley, Pauline Oliveros, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Tone Road Ramblers. His recorded performances are equally diverse and his catalogue of compositions includes works for conventional big bands and combos; for string, wind and percussion ensembles; for electronics; and for mixed media. Smith is a professor emeritus at Cleveland State University, where he was the coordinator of jazz studies from 1979 to 2006 and served as chair of the Art Department from 2003 to 2007. He has received two Fulbright grants, was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize for Music in 1985, has been the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council on seven different occasions, and in 2012 was awarded a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cleveland’s Community Partnership for Arts and Culture. He has twice served as co-chair of both the Jazz Fellowships and the Music Overview panels of the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been associated with Yamaha as an artist/clinician since 1971.

Band:

• Howie Smith, Sax
• Aidan Plank, Bass
• Jim Rupp, Drums
• Theron Brown, Piano

The Cleveland Greats Concert Series occurs on the following Thursday dates:

• 9/15/16: Jack Schantz
• 12/15/16: Howie Smith
• 2/16/17: Bob Fraser
• 5/18/17: Evelyn Wright