The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra will perform the last concert in its World Class Series Saturday night with big-band arrangements of music by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays and Chick Corea. The 8PM presentation at Fairmount Temple in Beachwood will also highlight news of the CJO, a veteran nonprofit organization doing its best to dig out of a nagging fiscal hole.

The CJO picture is finally getting brighter: Just last week, the orchestra won an ACE (Arts & Culture as Economic Development) grant of $8,250 from Cuyahoga County, designed specifically to kick off a new Bop Stop Series.

In fact, it seems as if the Bop Stop, an on-again, off-again ataa 2920 Detroit Ave. in Cleveland, will come back to life as a showcase, primarily as the home of the CJO. Already, the CJO has scheduled two shows there with singer Kevin Mahogany for next January 27. It is a fabulous venue, and it's great that it's reviving.

In other CJO action, it is seeking grants for clinics it aims to present in educational outreach programs at various high schools in northeast Ohio. It is optimistic about securing the grant money, and has set the end of June for a fund-raising goal of $180,000 in combined campaigns.

Enough about money; music is the CJO's mission and raison d'etre, and on Saturday night, the music, presented by 18 of the finest musicians in the region, should be exceptional.

It will showcase work by Metheny, a guitarist instantly identifiable on record. For the past 30 years, the Missouri native has been crafting widescreen albums in a variety of formats. Known for his ringing, chiming tone (think Ornette Coleman meets the Byrds), Metheny is a fearless composer who brings a widescreen sensibility to his efforts no matter his collaborators. His latest album is The Way Up, a bravura work that is one long piece. Some critics slam it for its seamlessness; I applaud it for its thoroughness and thoughtfulness. Besides, as is often the case with this innately hopeful, folk-jazz musician (hold the vocals), it swings.

According to Jack Schantz, music director of the CJO, the concert will feature pieces by longtime Metheny group keyboardist Lyle Mays, by Metheny himself, and by Chick Corea. Among the selections: Mays's "The Continuing Adventures of Supertonic," a musical joke written when Mays was a student at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas. The first half of the show will feature Metheny music arranged by Bob Curnow, a former trombonist for Stan Kenton who served as director of instrumental music at Case Western University from 1967 to 1974. Curnow translated Metheny's music into big-band format for a 1994 album with the L.A. Big Band.

Here are the Metheny tunes the CJO will play: "If I Could," "It's Just Talk," "Every Summer Night," "Better Days Ahead," and "Letter From Home." The second half will feature music by Mays, Metheny's most steadfast collaborator. It will include "F.M.," or "Funk Me," a tune usually referred to by its acronym because giving its full name can be challenging; and Corea's "What Was," arranged by Mays.

According to Schantz, the lineup will be four trumpets, four trombones, four saxes, a guitarist, drummer, bassist and pianist. The orchestra will have had three consecutive rehearsals, which makes Schantz nervous. "I'm always gratified when everybody pulls it off," he says. In the CJO, everybody always does.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Carlo Wolff CWolff7827@aol.com

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