Greg Banaszak + CWRU Ambassadors of JAZZ!

“A Night Out with CWRU Jazz” is a behind-the-scenes look at Cleveland’s active and internationally connected jazz scene, centered on performances and conversations with students, educators, and professionals from Case Western Reserve University.

The episode follows jazz combos featuring musicians from across the U.S., led by educator and saxophonist Greg Banaszak, alongside artists including Theron Brown, Chris Anderson, Aidan Plank, and Patrick “Duke” Graney. Banaszak also has upcoming performances at Northeast Ohio venues such as BLU Jazz+ and Cain Park, as well as an international tour to India.

It also captures a recent CWRU student performance at the Irishtown Bend Taproom in Cleveland. Featured vocalist Cari Dupote, studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Joan Ellison, reflects on influences including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nancy Wilson, emphasizing jazz as a timeless, improvisational art form. Saxophonist Bobby Bellairs shares his path from St. Olaf College to Cleveland, where he performs on his ZII saxophone, underscoring the city’s role as both a training ground and a performance hub.

Together, these voices highlight Cleveland as a vibrant center for jazz education, collaboration, and live performance, where students are actively shaping the next generation of the genre that's embedded in its own, unique history.

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Transcript

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Hey, Greg, how you doing? Good to see you here tonight. 

Yeah. Good to see you, Dave. We've got a really good evening here in Market Square Garden. We have our two Case jazz combos that I have the pleasure of directing from students from all over the country, all over the globe, actually. There's a great Alto player from Tokyo. 

Cool. 

And then I'm gonna be playing with Chris Anderson, Theron Brown, Aiden Plank. 

I saw the lineup, it's awesome. 

Yeah, a lot of good guys. A lot of good people. Then that, the three of us, Theron, Chris and myself will be going to India in August. So, we're doing Cain Park on the 26th. The 17th will be at BLU Jazz Club in Akron. So, we're... a lot of preparation, a lot of concerts. It's the first of the series of concerts that we'll be preparing for that. So, "ambassadors of jazz!" 

Awesome. So, I get a little preview tonight, right? 

Yeah. And it's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for doing that so much. 

Hey, I'm glad to be here. Have fun tonight. 

Alright, thank you Dave. 

I've got Cari Dupote here.

Hi. 

She's a vocalist - and jazz on top of that! How you doing, Cari? 

I'm good. How are you? 

Good. Wanna tell me what you're up to here tonight? 

Yeah, so we're singing with our crew jazz ensemble, so Case Western Reserve. We have a jazz combo, and so we're gonna be singing some tunes and playing some tunes. So it should be a lot of fun. 

I'm looking forward to your vocals. Jazz is not easy, but when it comes to voice, I mean, how do you follow it all? I mean, I normally like to listen to a lot of the greats, like Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and just see what they do and just practice and try to emulate, but also add my own styles, how I like to approach the vocals. 

Well, who's your vocal instructor? 

Joan Ellison is my vocal instructor. 

Awesome. Over at CIM?

Oh, CIM, awesome! Well, I'm looking forward to hearing you tonight. And have you got any, advice for listeners out here? 

Definitely get into jazz if you're not already into jazz. I think it's making a comeback. I think it's timeless and I think it's great to sing, play, listen to all of it. 

You know, that's what I wanted to hear tonight from young people. What is it that attracts you to jazz? Because, it's something that's almost learned, but I wonder... what inspired you? 

I just think that, I don't think there's anything like jazz. I think the improv quality makes it incredible. I think the musicians are incredible. I just think it's, again, I said timeless, and I think it's wonderful. 

Awesome. I'm looking forward to hearing you tonight, so have fun. 

Thank you. Thank you. 

Take care.

Hey, today I've got Bobby Bellairs and we're down here at the Irishtown Bend Taproom and we're gonna hear a little bit about what he's up to tonight. How you doing there, Bobby? 

I'm doing very well. I'm super excited to play with some wonderful musicians and see Greg Banszak play with his quintet. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun tonight. 

Good. What kinda sax are you holding there? 

This is a alto saxophone. It's a Yamaha Custom ZII. I've been playing this for about six years and it's really... does a great job. 

You know, how do you even pick a saxophone? I know, I went shopping once with my son to look for a sax. It's not an easy thing. 

Yeah. So, I actually started on clarinet, but I liked the way that saxophone sounded. And I kind of basically built my way up. I played an intermediate horn for a lot of high school. I eventually got a professional horn before undergraduate studies. I went to this school called St. Olaf College and studied saxophone performance there, with an emphasis in jazz saxophone. So yeah, that's kind of... it's definitely hard to pick a horn and find the right horn for you, but once you do, you kind of know, it kind of just clicks. 

And what got you to study under Greg Banaszak? 

So, while I was studying at St. Olaf College, Greg was a friend of my classical saxophone teacher, and he came in as a guest artist and clinician. I thought his teaching was really great. I thought his attitude about music and working with young people was really positive. I told him at the time that I was looking at graduate schools and considering music education. And he mentioned basically that Case Western Reserve had a great music ed program, and I could go there for graduate school, even though my undergraduate degree was in music performance.

Where'd you grow up, Bobby? 

I grew up in Minnesota, but also my parents lived outside of DC in Maryland, like Silver Spring area 

(yeah) 

for about eight years, and then I moved to Minnesota later. And that's what kind of led me to attend St. Olaf College. And now I'm in Cleveland! 

Cool. Cool. You gotta love Cleveland. 

Yeah, I love it here! 

Hey, what are you going to play tonight that I should really pay attention to? What's gonna be your favorite piece? 

So, we're playing a few tunes. We're playing a ballad called Star Maker, which hopefully will turn out well. And then we're also playing this song called, "Swinging at the Haven" at the end, and I'm really looking forward to playing that one. 

Oh cool. You got some solos tonight, right?

Yeah, I do have some solos on that one. 

Alright, I love sax, let's make it great tonight. 

Yeah. 

Take care. 

Thank you.