Rick Braun brings trumpet to Summit Street Jazz Series
Written by Joel Sensenig | | news@toledofreepress.comThe Summit Street Jazz Series gets an internationally renowned flavor Sept. 12 with a performance by trumpeter Rick Braun.
The chart-topping smooth jazz scenester comes to Toledo to exhibit his diverse talents on The Flame on the River at the corner of North Summit Street and Jefferson Avenue. Since bursting onto the urban jazz scene with his debut album, “Intimate Secrets,” in 1993, Braun has established himself as a fixture in the industry.
In addition to his successful solo career, the Allentown, Penn., native has shared the stage as a touring sideman with the likes of Rickie Lee Jones, Tina Turner, Glenn Frey, Natalie Cole, Crowded House, Tom Petty and War.
Rick Braun
Getting Braun in Toledo was a matter of timing, according to Jesse Coleman, a local jazz performer who has been involved with bringing smooth jazz shows to the city. Braun was already scheduled to be in Northwest Ohio this weekend for the second annual Jazzin’ Tiffin festival on Sept. 11, so the local series officials decided to take advantage of his proximity to the area and get him to the Glass City.
Coleman, who performs in the Toledo-based The JAMM featuring Jesse Coleman, is excited to bring a well-known artist such as Braun to the area, which he says has an audience hungry for smooth jazz sounds. During the summer, organizers brought jazz performers to The Navy Bistro on Wednesday nights to perform before crowds of upwards of 300 people as part of the Maumee River Jazz Series.
Originally scheduled to last eight weeks, the high interest in the music encouraged officials to double its length to 16 weeks.
“This audience is coming out from underground in Toledo,” Coleman said. “For the general public, there’s no real outlet for smooth jazz. With the shutting down of 98.7 FM (a smooth jazz artery in Detroit), most people just don’t have anywhere to go for their music.
“With the jazz series in the summer, the smooth jazz artists have been brought into Toledo and the response has been extraordinary. Out from under the carpet came all these people we didn’t know had an interest in the music,” Coleman said.
Cover for the Rick Braun show is $5 at the door of The Flame on the River, 152 N. Summit St., located within earshot of Murphy’s Place, which local jazz aficionados are well acquainted with. The performance is scheduled to run from 5 to 9 p.m.
Braun’s performance is the final show in the three-part Summit Street series, which Coleman hopes is just the beginning of the smooth jazz revival in Toledo. Shows are already lined up for Sept. 9 and 16 at ICE Restaurant and Bar (formerly Eddy B’s) in Downtown Toledo, and The JAMM is slated to serve as the house band at The Flame on the River for the month of October.
“I’m hoping that people catch the comet that’s streaking though Toledo,” he said. “Where else in the world can you listen to live jazz for $1.25 an hour?”
Tags: Downtown Toledo, Rick Braun, Summit Street Jazz Series
