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“We’re trying to get the lighting right,” says jazz trumpet player and band leader Dominick Farinacci as he walks into EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute carrying several boxes of string lights. Looking dapper in blue blazer, Farinacci, who’s just started booking jazz shows on weeknights at the Cleveland Heights restaurant and music venue, is prepping the stage for the Jeff Hamilton Trio, the first national act he’s booked as part of a new partnership with EDWINS. The show, which took place last night, represents the start of a curated jazz series that will highlight both local and national jazz acts.
A Cleveland native who’s become a national jazz star, Farinacci started playing Cleveland when he was just a teenager. At the time, Nighttown (now EDWINS) would regularly host big jazz acts in its dining room.
“I’ve been playing Nighttown since I was 14 or 15,” says Farinacci from the club’s basement. A small black carry-on bag with luggage tags on it sits by his side. “I took classes at Tri-C through when I was still in high school. That’s when I was playing around town. I used to play the [now shuttered] Club Isabella and a bunch of other places too. How many times did I play Nighttown? I can’t even count. At least 100. I did 20 New Year’s Eve shows there. This has always been one of my homes in Cleveland for many years. I saw so many legendary shows here too and got to play with so many great artists.”
In March of last year, EDWINS owner Brandon Chrostowski reached out to Farinacci and asked him to perform at the venue.
“I did a couple of nights early on after it became EDWINS,” he says. “I love the sound of the room and appreciate Brandon’s commitment to figuring out what the next chapter looks like. A few months later, we talked about putting together a concert series for the weeknights and start to build it out that way. On Friday and Saturday nights, they have great local musicians playing. But we wanted to do this dedicated concert series. We are not trying to replicate what Nighttown used to be because that was a different time. We want to re-imagine what it might look like getting behind Brandon’s mission. How can we really help to complement that and bring something of arts and culture significance here?”
At the moment, Farinacci has booked about eight shows that’ll take place at EDWINS between now and the year’s end. He’s particularly pleased that the series starts with Hamilton and says he’s a “fan and admirer” of the veteran drummer.
“He’s an iconic figure in the jazz world,” he says of Hamilton. “He’s on several albums that Tommy LiPuma produced with Diana Krall and Paul McCartney. I’ve worked with pianist Monty Alexander, and the first time I got to play with Jeff was with Monty at the Smith Center in Las Vegas. I’ve always loved Jeff’s trio, and this is a new trio.”
Hamilton’s visit comes at the end of a three-week run that took him to Indianapolis. In addition to performing at EDWINS, Hamilton will give a free master class at Tri-C. He’s no stranger to Cleveland.
“I played Nighttown many times,” he says while finishing a pre-concert meal. “I played here with [bassist] Ray Brown and [pianist] Benny Green and I’ve played here with my trio. I’ve played Cleveland quite a bit. The venue now looks like a much more comfortable room to listen to music. Acoustically, we did the soundcheck and there are no mics on. We are able to play acoustic up there. Acoustically, it’s a great sounding room, and the staff has been great to work with.”
The upcoming schedule includes several notable acts.
“Part of what I want to do is celebrate the great musical culture of Cleveland,” says Farinacci. “[Percussionist] Jamey Haddad is going to play two nights on Oct. 8 and 9. He just got off the road with Paul Simon. He lives right around the corner. He’s a gift to our community. Vanessa Rubin (Oct. 16) will bring her group. Wycliffe Gordon (Oct. 30) is a legendary trombonist. I met him when I went to New York to sit in with a rehearsal with Wynton Marsalis. Jim Caruso’s Cast Party is coming in November. That’s a little different. It’s this wild, off-Broadway open mic event that he established at Birdland in New York. It’s a fun and funny inspiring community experience. We’ll also bring together great pianists from the local scene with Joe Hunter, Jackie Warren, George Foley and Dave Thomas. I don’t think they’ve ever performed together.”
The lineup also includes up-and-coming jazz vocalist Stella Cole, who just signed with Verve Records. She performs on Dec. 3, and Farinacci says it’ll be her first-ever performance in Cleveland. And Farinacci will recruit some of his musical friends to join him for a New Year’s Eve performance.
Farinacci says he hopes to build upon a foundation of jazz in Northeast Ohio that stretches back decades and now includes a good handful of venues. The fact that EDWINS has a noble goal of “empowering formerly incarcerated adults through culinary arts, hospitality training, and paid-in-life opportunity,” as it’s put in its mission statement, is an added bonus.
“When I was growing up in the ‘90s, I would play seven nights a week,” he says. “I did this 24-7, and the scene would support itself. That is what is required to create a vibrant music community. All this stuff that’s popping up is wonderful. It’s not too much. The quality is wonderful and culturally important. Looking at the history of this venue and all that went on here before it became EDWINS, it’s exciting to me that we can establish a venue with wonderful artists from here and the community and around the world. Any other city that has a vibrant jazz scene, it’s not just one or two places. It’s many places. That said, we are looking to establish our own identity at EDWINS. Given the important role that EDWINS plays, there’s a perfect alignment between its mission in the community and the cultural importance.”
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Jeff Niesel
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