When the 41st Annual Tri-C Jazz Festival Cleveland was reimagined as a virtual event,
photo © Janet Macoska
Northeast Ohio lost its premier jazz showcase and glossiest marquee event. That wasn’t the only opportunity that was lost.
Earlier in 2020, the festival’s director, Terri Pontremoli was named Cleveland’s Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, but the presentation of the award, like so much else, had to wait for better days.
They arrived on September 11-12 when the 42nd Tri-C Jazz Festival took the stage in Cleveland’s Cain Park. And so did Terri Pontremoli, shown here accepting her award from me. It was a little behind the beat, as so much has been recently, but Pontremoli, ever the pro, accepted with gratitude and humility—just like a hero should.
The Tri-C Fest — so named for founding organizer Cuyahoga Community College — presented 10 mainstage performances (headliners including Catherine Russell and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra) and eight at staggered times by students in the Tri-C Jazz Fest Academy over its two days. There were also a Kid’s Club and Jazz Talk Tent, where Ben Sidran presented his biography of the late record company exec Tommy LiPuma, and WCBE producer-host Jack Marchbanks spoke with drummer Jerome Jennings on Jazz and Social Justice, including discussion of Max Roach’s iconic Freedom Now Suite, the album We Insist!
