As always, there are many jazz gigs and events set for Toledo this month, plus the jazz festival season gets fully underway. Please get out and help support our vocalists and musicians by attending live jazz shows at the venues of your choice. There is a wealth of venues at which to hear jazz in Toledo and surrounding areas.
Artful Donation from B-Bop Records
As many readers know, the book Toledo’s Jazz Legacy is done and we are actively raising money to achieve the target of 20k, to get a high-quality book published by Ohio State’s operation. They require subvention, a fancy term for financial support from the author or another source. Currently, we are near 50% of the goal. In a surprise move, the proprietor of B-Bop records, where Toledo shops for hip music, Amjad Doumani, donated two framed posters for a future silent auction, with all proceeds to be used to fund the book. Thanks, Amjad!
One framed poster is very rare: it’s a Bob Cairl creation for Toledo’s first jazz festival. This piece in a gallery would command a handsome premium. The second framed poster is based on Tom McGlauchlin’s artwork for a later festival. The plan is to have a silent auction at a fundraiser concert later this year (date TBD), with a reserve price on each artwork. However, if someone makes me an offer I can’t refuse before the planned fundraiser gig, the posters will be sold. If you have a serious, generous offer for either framed work, email doug@toledojazz.net. If it’s serious, the author will accept the proposal and, once payment is made, will hand deliver to the local winner! Photos of the framed pieces:
Readers, please consider a donation to directly support the book. All donations are tax-deductible and can be made at the TAPA website (check or card): https://www.artstoledo.com/toledo-jazz-legacy
Sessions Gig at Lucille’s Jazz Lounge
I’d like to report on a super cool, hip scene that’s been going on for about one year. The Tuesday night “Sessions” jazz gig at Lucille’s Jazz Lounge features superb performers from around the region. What’s even cooler is that there is no ticket needed, and no cover charge on Tuesdays, just walk in and enjoy the show which begins at 7:00pm. This is a super venue to catch local talent and out of town folks sitting in. Gene Parker and Damen Cook anchor the evening with a different guest in the trio each week. On top of that, after the first set, regional performers sit in and jam with the group. This kind of action is reminiscent of Rusty’s and Murphy’s; if you know what those places were, then you know what I’m saying. If not, go to Lucille’s and you will understand.
Jim Gottron’s 90th birthday, and a few others, too.
There are some special birthday wishes this month. First, happy birthday goes out to Jim Gottron, Toledo’s most senior piano technician, piano tuner for many musical legends, and likely the most senior lounge-style pianist in the area. He turns 90 years young this July. Now, Jim is a story unto himself, so there is a special story section about him later in the newsletter, with a few pictures, past and present to ogle. He’s one heck of a guy. There is a very special birthday event for Jim on July 16, 2025, 5pm - 8pm, in the Red Room at the Toledo Club. It’s open to the public. No cover and plenty of free parking for the night’s festivities. The bar will be open, and a light food menu will be available. The event commences at 5pm and runs until 8pm.
Next, Toledo’s historic, most senior jazz vocalist, Flo Metzger, turns 101 years young in July. Flo grew up in a period when many of Toledo’s clubs were part of the jazz and liquor-fueled frenzy of the Prohibition era. The mob ran wild, bullets flew, and people expected live entertainment at every club they visited in this time frame. Flo performed in floor shows during the same period when Art Tatum and Jon Hendricks were performing in the city. She’s sung with big bands, also at Rusty’s and Murphy’s Place, plus many other locations, and for years she’s often sat in with the Cakewalkin’ Jass Band at Tony Packo’s. Happy Birthday, Flo!
Happy birthday wishes go out to Larry Fuller, who is one of the top jazz pianists in the nation. Additionally, we wish a happy birthday to Bob Rex, Glenda Biddlestone, Skip Turner, Eric Dickey, Ken Zuercher, Mike Miller, Scott Kretzer, Mike Peslikis, Lisa Young, Judy Dye, and all of the performers who are not on the TJN list, yet.
SSJJ Mini Jazz Festival
The Second Sunday Jazz Jam unofficially kicks off the Toledo vicinity jazz festival season with a mini jazz festival featuring an indoor and outdoor component. This year the Jeff McDonald Big Band (Swingmania) is featured in the outdoor area under the big tent. Indoor, pianist Pete Ford will hold down the house combo with a host of visiting performers sitting in. Ample parking is available on the street and at the park below the gig. This very special SSJJ runs from 2:00pm – 7:00pm. BYOB and Bring a lawn chair.
Jean Holden-Hannah
Jean has become the vocal coach for the Center of Hope Family Services, Inc. The group has an important mission in the community, seeking to elevate life outcomes of adults, children, and families in urban and suburban settings. Vocal students at the facility will receive much deeper voice work than they realize, as Jean’s students have gone on to Hollywood and Broadway. Jean’s association with the group is a great development for the Toledo area.
Nicole Heitger Quartet
Vocalist Nicole Heitger and her band are booked for two shows in one night at the lovely Blue Llama Jazz Club. It’s a big deal because this is Nicole’s debut at the much-talked-about venue in Ann Arbor. Nicole began singing with the historic Cakewalkin’ Jass Band when she was a teenager and has been a vocalist for 30 years. Now she has her own combo. The Nicole Heitger Quartet’s gig at the Blue Llama happens on Thursday, July 3, 2025, with a 7:00pm show and an 8:45pm show. The group plays a mix of Dixieland, swing and bebop, laying down sounds from the 1920s through the 1940/50s. The Blue Llama Jazz Club is one of the Midwest’s most charming venues, showcasing a cool, modern look, coupled with an amazing sound system. Link for tickets at the Blue Llama Jazz Club
Larry Fuller in Toledo
Pianist and composer Larry Fuller presented a tour de force performance at Lucille’s Jazz Lounge in June. Words cannot describe the scope of his capacity and the level he’s reached in technical facility and in his grasp of the jazz idiom. He proved that night, like Ellington and Strayhorn, that there is massive power to be found in subtlety at the keyboard, when combined with beautifully composed pieces. Fuller impressed with lovely, subdued precision when the composition called for a quiet approach. When speedy fire was required, his blinding, almost finger-twisting keyboard technique was perfect, as it was laced with powerful, fully embraced, full-tilt, swinging piano chords which lifted the joint from the foundation; the audience was astounded. The Larry Fuller Trio is not a one-man show, however; all three members shone. The time the trio has spent together on the road was evident in the remarkable seamlessness of their performance. Like the mythical phoenix, the musical harmony achieved by the group that night is not often caught. Bassist Lorin Cohen, who’s also been heard performing with Monte Alexander, brings the bass to the next level. His intonations are spot on, even in blindingly fast passages, and that’s what matters. He’s played on Broadway and in the Windy City, too. Cohen is also in sync with drummer Carmen Intorre, Jr. Intorre brings the drums into the fold properly at every turn, helping lift the trio higher, as he drives the jazz drums with a great touch. Intorre, a Juilliard graduate from the turn of this century, cut six albums with Cleveland phenom Ernie Krivda, then played with Joey DeFrancesco and many others. Sometimes it’s like he channels Elvin Jones. If one ever has the chance to see this version of the Larry Fuller trio, there can be no doubt one is listening to something very special.
April Varner
April is making a name for herself at every turn. She’s just begun a nationwide tour with noted performance group Postmodern Jukebox. PMJ often takes a current hit and converts it to a jazz or swing number with great effect. They turn out powerhouse shows everywhere they perform. April will be one of the featured vocalists on the tour. She’s been busy on other projects as well. Prior to leaving for the tour April finished recording her next album, a Christmas album that will be out in November. As soon as her tour with PMJ wraps up, she’s booked for a gig in NYC at Mezzrow, along with other gigs in the city. April will be performing in Toledo in September (more about that in the August TJN), and then it’s back to NYC, where she’s booked for a gig at Smalls. There are other things afoot in her schedule. April’s star is rising and there are high hopes for the young woman from Toledo.
Jazz in the Garden
The Jazz in the Garden weekly series of jazz gigs, held at the Toledo Botanical Garden, kicks off with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra on July 10, 2025, with guest vocalist Lori Lefevre. Check out all of the gigs in the following link, and make sure to get out and support this super event: https://metroparkstoledo.com/jazz
Jazz Festival Season
Many local festivals are on deck for the months of July and August. Here are the names and dates of some neat local and regional affairs.
Defiance Jazz Festival, July 12, 2025, Link: https://visitdefianceohio.com/defiance-jazz-festival/
Michigan Jazz Festival, July 20, 2025, Link:
Glass City JazzFest, August 9, 2025, downtown Toledo at the Glass City Metropark Pavilion area; this event includes an entire week of jazz gigs August 4-8, 2025, held at venues around the city. More info on this happening will be in the August edition of the TJN.
Sunset Jazz and Art Fest, August 18, 2025, Grand Rapids, Ohio
Great Lakes Jazz Festival, September 13, 2025, Ottawa Park, Toledo, Ohio
@ The Sodbuster Bar, Wed, July 2, 2025, 7:30p - 10p
July 5, 2025, @ The Hillside Wine Shop
Special Section About A Special Guy
Jim Gottron: Piano Man
Happy Birthday, Jim!
Jim Gottron passed the exam to become a registered piano technician right before he turned 18. He is likely the youngest person to ever take and pass the exam on the first try. Some in the tuners’ union didn’t want to admit him, because they thought he was far too young, but the leadership said, “if he passed, he’s in.” He moved to California for a time, where he befriended noted pianist Pete Jolly. His pal Jolly even gave Jim some personal instruction on the keyboard. His first tuning assignment had Jim ringing the doorbell of a star named Mitzi Gaynor. Yeah, it was like that for Jim in California. He returned to the Toledo, Ohio area and in 1963 became a good friend of an amazing piano player from Detroit who made Toledo his second home in the late 1950s, Claude Black. Claude was well established in the Detroit jazz scene by then. He had played for Billie Holiday and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Claude was taken with Jim’s talents and, later, introduced him to the ownership of the legendary Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, the oldest jazz club in the world. It was a done deal; Jim became the club’s tuner. In the same year he met Claude Black, Rusty Monroe opened her renowned establishment in Toledo, Rusty’s Music Bar. It didn’t take long before Jim was tuning pianos at Rusty’s place. So, Jim was the house piano tuner and advisor for two of the nation’s top jazz establishments in his career. Between working at the two establishments, Jim has tuned for an extensive list of jazz luminaries, including Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, George Shearing, Roger Williams, Stanley Cowell, Larry Fuller, Johnny O’Neal, Ahmad Jamal, Liberace and several dozen others.
While all this music was happening at Rusty’s and Baker’s, Jim was working with various piano companies and on his own, too. He tuned at the former Masonic Auditorium, for a cavalcade of stars, as well as for the Toledo Symphony, The University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University and the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, upon its formation. Jim tuned pianos for Toledo’s earliest jazz festival. The Steinway corporation was so impressed with Jim’s work that they paid for him to come to their headquarters to learn some advanced techniques from their specialists. When the beloved jazz club Murphy’s Place opened in downtown Toledo, Jim could be found tuning the piano at that location, too.
Long before Murphy’s Place opened, though, Jim was hired to tune pianos at the Aku-Aku Polynesian Room at the Town House Motel. This joint was a swinging, cool club where everyone in Toledo wanted to be seen. In this location he rubbed elbows with elegant women, mobsters and top entertainment talent from around the nation. One evening he rescued Count Basie’s gig from a major setback. During practice, Basie was pounding away on the piano when his forceful blows broke a striking hammer, leading to an off-kilter sound, and Jim got the call to save the day. He swiftly repaired the hammer before the gig and the show went on as scheduled. Club proprietor Irving “Slick” Shapiro knew what and who he wanted at the club, and Jim became his go-to piano technician for the glitzy establishment.
Rest assured, when Jim wasn’t tuning a piano, he could be heard playing one at joints all around Toledo. He played for several years at the Commodore Perry Motor Inn’s Quarterdeck Lounge, Carranor Hunt & Polo Club, the Sylvania Country Club, Toledo Country Club, Fifi’s Restaurant, Murphy’s Place, and Rusty’s Jazz Café. However, it was at the Toledo Club where Jim had the longest tenure. Always dressed in coat, tie, and sporting one of his signature hats, Jim could be heard at the historic downtown club as early as the late 1960s, performing in trios with guys like bassist Clifford Murphy and drummer Bob White. The number of groups and combos Jim led at the Toledo Club are countless, and he’s performed in every room in the establishment, on grand pianos and on stalwart uprights as well. Jim has hired musicians from Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus and other cities to perform with him, bringing top regional talent into the club. During his gigs’ intermissions, Jim worked the room, adroitly making sure to pay a visit to as many tables as possible, asking about the patrons, taking requests, and making people feel good. For Jim, being a piano man is a serious matter. Generations of Toledo Club members and guests practically grew up listening to him at the keyboard. Jim has played at the Toledo Club for over 55 years. There are few around the city, probably few around the nation, with a tenure on the piano in one location that matches Jim Gottron’s time at the Toledo Club.
Recurring Gigs Summer 2025
Monday Nights – Golden Road Jazz Night. 3560 Dorr Street, Toledo, Ohio, 7:00pm – 10:00pm.
Tuesday Nights – Sessions at Lucille’s Jazz Lounge – Gene Parker and Damen Cook with special guest each week; plus visiting musicians/vocalists sitting in after first set. 1447 N. Summit Street, Toledo, Ohio. Gig runs 7:00pm – 10:00pm. NO COVER! NO TICKET NEEDED, JUST WALK ON IN.
Wednesday Nights – Organic Ingredients—Bob Manley, Tim Tiderman, John Johnson, and Clark Brooks with guests, are live every week at the Oliver House, in the former Mutz Bar space, every Wednesday from 7p-10p.
Wednesday Nights – BGSU Jazz Ensemble at Arlyn’s Good Beer.
520 Hankey Avenue, Bowling Green, Ohio. 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Thursday Thru Saturday – Solo jazz piano at the Chop House, 300 N. Summit Street, downtown Toledo. Solo jazz piano in the evening.
Thursday Night – Jazz Collective at the Peacock Café. Each week the Jazz Collective features a different guest. 2007 Monroe Street, Toledo, Ohio, 7:00pm -10:00pm.
Sunday Nights – The Ministry of Jazz – The Village Idiot at 309 Conant Street, Maumee, Ohio 6:00pm -9:00pm.
Jazz On the Radio & Streaming
The Sunday Morning Extravaganza with host Ragtime Rick. “Music you won’t hear anywhere else on the radio dial.” Show details: 6am –9am FM 100.7 The Ticket, or available for streaming on the internet at 1007TheTicket.com.
Friday: then Saturday overnights -- WGTE broadcasts the Jazz Spectrum -- Friday 8pm – 12am, Saturday 8pm – 12am, then Jazz Spectrum Overnights Saturday from 12am – 4am, hosted by Fritz Byers. https://www.wgte.org/jazz
Other info at: https://www.facebook.com/jazzspectrumtoledo/
Listen to WXTS Jazz 88.3 FM 8a-8p Monday-Friday or 24/7, live stream at rdo.to/wxts
Deep Mix: Music & More with DJ Amjad: Radio show distilled & curated from 50 years knowledge & experience of people’s music & culture. Drawing on a wide spectrum of genres & styles. Broadcasts Sat. 8 PM & Wed. 4 PM EST on WAKT 106.1 FM, streaming on www.toledoradio.org and the WAKT 106.1 app
*Shows feature a mix of musical styles, with jazz showing up frequently.
H-Factor Jazz Show, 24hr/day Jazz:
Hosted by Hugh Ross, Jr.
http://hfactorjazzshow.com/
Mark Zaborney’s "Jazz Unlimited" on WBGU FM 88.1 and via bgfalconmedia.com Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays from 9:00 am to noon. Note: Live in studio 9am - 12:00pm on Wednesdays. Every Friday Mark posts a new, hip jazz playlist on Spotify, too.
Thursdays, you can watch jazz broadcast live from the Peacock Café on BCAN, Watch BCAN on channel 109 (sd) or 609 (hd) or on Stream TV 26, or you can login with your Buckeye Broadband account here: https://www.bcanarts.com/watch/
Download a PDF of July 2025 Gigs Below:
Please note: Jim Gottron’s Birthday gig runs from 5:00pm - 8:00pm, maybe longer. It’s jazz, so the artistry may go past 8:00pm. It’s a birthday party, after all! (There was a typo in the graphic below)
If all of the gigs do not appear below, click on them and they will open in a browser window.
Photos
