Why the CJO?
As we celebrate our 40th year, we’re sharing stories and memories from CJO board members (current and former) and fans.
George Blake
CJO Board Member and President, 2021-present
George Blake
What was your introduction to jazz/to the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra?
I was very lucky to grow up attending Cleveland Heights public schools. This was a wonderful musical environment, where I was surrounded by peers from classical, gospel, and jazz traditions. It also meant that I was being mentored by members of CJO before I knew what the CJO was.
My fourth grade band teacher was a CJO band member (Paul Hungerford); I attended a TMS summer camp in middle school where I got to hang out with the coolest counselor - and hear him breathe beauty into the sky, (CJO's Joe Miller); I won a jazz award in high school that enabled me to pursue private lessons with CJO's amazing Jackie Warren; Paul Ferguson was also guest artist for part of my time at Heights (and its fabled jazz program).
“It was my first introduction to Mosbrook’s deep knowledge and respect for Cleveland jazz history. Also, that man had the coolest voice. ”
What is one of your fondest memories of attending a jazz concert?
I have too many fond jazz memories to recount. Here are a few highlight:
The Heights Swings concert (a reunion of Heights jazz alums) at Cain Park where Joe Mosbrook was the MC. It was my first introduction to Mosbrook's deep knowledge and respect for Cleveland jazz history. Also, that man had the coolest voice.
I attended a concert that was four generations of jazz piano history (I learned later that it came about because a touring artist had to cancel) - but it truly showed how you don't need to leave town to discover astounding sounds: Skeets Ross, Neal Creque, Dan Wall, Joe Hunter.
I also remember seeing Don Byron perform Bug Music at Cain Park with Uri Caine on piano. It opened my ears to cartoon music and reminded me that profound art can be hiding in plain earshot. The concert was cooking, but it wore its virtuosity lightly, providing pleasingly playful delectables at a frenetic pace.
One of the most powerful experiences of my life was attending a Porgy and Bess concert at Severance Hall. Jon Faddis was playing lead - and the Cleveland horn section (including Joe Miller) made me hear things that I had never noticed on the Miles Davis recording. Sometimes you think you know a recording fully, then you find out that musicians in Cleveland reorient your reality with a live performance.
What are your hopes for the future of the organization?
I hope that the CJO continues to find ways to bring its future alive by plumbing the depths of the city's musical past. Cleveland jazz history really is an ocean, with profound musical sensibilities emerging from the great migration; the hippest stop between New York and Chicago; and a midwestern hub connected to cities like Pittsburgh and Detroit. Listing names is insufficient to the task of seeing how much possibility there is for finding going backward and finding resonances with all kinds of aesthetic projects in the present.
“I hope that the CJO continues to find ways to bring its future alive by plumbing the depths of the city’s musical past. ”
What is your hope for the future of the Board?
One of my favorite quotes about jazz is that the music is a "marvel of paradox." As the board continues to negotiate the challenges posed by shifting performance norms in the post-pandemic environment, I hope that the board can find marvelous ways to use the genre's paradoxes to support and sustain the organization. Jazz's great paradoxes are also the paradoxes that make for great civic life. Jazz belongs in concert halls, street corners, bars, and ballrooms; it is incredibly challenging to play, but reassuring to the ear; jazz can have its own local sensibility, even as it is infused with sounds from across the globe. Cleveland has much to be proud of in the amazing artistry the group has achieved over the years. The board can sustain the richness and plurality of its traditions by continuing to find patrons invested in this intergenerational community art that hops boundaries.
“Original music. A sustained legacy. A great future. Musician’s music.”
What do you think is unique or different about the CJO?
Original music. A sustained legacy. A great future. Musician's music.