Stained glass artist Mary Zodnik and Jazz pianist Joe Hunter

Maybe you've heard the jazz pianist Joe Hunter (47), playing at Nighttown or at Stages at the Cleveland Play House, or out in Hudson at the Inn at Turner's Mill, he is so good on the keyboard that you remember him and his music. Having studied with jazz great Bill Gidney and performing professionally since 1979, this Cleveland Heights native loves Brazilian music and specializes in the Great American Songbook. Hunter has taught at the Conservatory of Music at Capital University in Columbus and presently teaches at Tri-C, Metro Campus, in the Jazz Studies Department.

Along with his busy performing schedule, Hunter has his own radio show, "I've Heard That Song Before," broadcast on WELW 1330AM and is co-host of "The Song Is You" concert series created by Bill Rudman. Known for his versatility, Hunter has played with national jazz artists as well as with locally known Ernie Krivda's Fat Tuesday Big Band. Asked how he got into jazz, Hunter smiled and said "It wasn't a well thought out decision. My parents were great music lovers. I was lucky and got exposed to jazz."

Maybe you've seen Mary Zodnik's (44) artwork in her Azure Stained Glass Studio in Tremont or maybe you have sat in church under her restored or newly designed stained glass chapel windows. Wherever you have seen the warm stained glass glow of her work, you remember it well. It is so rich and colorful. Business partners with Ben Parsons, the Azure Studio has already been written up in the New York Times and the Plain Dealer for their church restorations and installations. Being awarded specific retail space from the Incubator Project in Tremont, Azure Studio was able to make a successful business start there five years ago.

In greater Cleveland, they have worked on windows at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Shiloh Baptist Church. They have also designed and installed stained glass windows for a church in Atlanta and another in Toledo. Zodnik works in glass for the color and light, and loves all parts of the process. Visit www.azurestainedglass.com for more info. Married to each other, these two creative artists own a beautifully decorated Cleveland Heights home complete with stained glass art pieces and a baby grand piano for rehearsals. And you know there is never a dull conversation at their dinner table!!

From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul susn1ATatt.net
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