Show List

Caffe Vivace's Upcoming Shows

CCM Jazz Combo Night #1

CCM Jazz Combo Night #1

Mon, Nov 02

Ryan Hamilton Combo #1 7:00- 7:30pm

Ryan Hamilton Combo #2 7:45- 8:15pm

Jazz USA Combo 8:30 - 9:00pm


A $15 ($5 for students) drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set, if the total for beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum.


Blue Wisp Big Band

Blue Wisp Big Band

Wed, Nov 04

Jeremy Long — alto saxophone Jamie Walkenhauer — alto saxophone Brent Gallaher — tenor saxophone Dan Drees — tenor saxophone Larry Dickson — baritone saxophone Jeff Owen — trombone Clarence Pawn — trombone Brian Stevens — trombone Gary Langhorst — bass trombone Jeff Folkens — trumpet Hank Mautner — trumpet John Zappa — trumpet Kim Pensyl — trumpet Steve Schmidt — piano Mike Sharfe — bass Jim Leslie — drums Cincinnati's legendary Blue Wisp Big Band celebrates its 46th year of swingin' Big Band music at Caffe Vivace. Founded in January 1980 by drummer John Von Ohlen and trumpeter Don Johnson, the Blue Wisp Big Band got its start in and its name from the late Blue Wisp Jazz Club. Von Ohlen, a native of Indianapolis, moved to the Cincinnati area after many years on the road playing with world-class jazz orchestras, most notably those of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman. After hearing all of the fine musicians in the area, he felt there was a need to form a group because most of them “weren’t playing any jazz, which is the reason they started playing in the first place.” He felt the desire to start a “world-class big band and wanted to put it in a tavern, a beer joint.” Don Johnson, who had been on the Cincinnati scene for years, suggested which instrumentalists should play in the band. Von Ohlen states, “Don was the horn connection.” Pianist Steve Schmidt and bassist Michael Sharfe were already playing with Von Ohlen at the Blue Wisp in the Steve Schmidt Trio, Wednesday through Saturday nights, so the rhythm section was easily formed. Von Ohlen remembers approaching Paul and Marjean Wisby, the original owners of the Blue Wisp, with the idea, “Wednesday is a slow night. Why don’t we bring in a big band and blow the roof off the place? It worked real good.”Since its inception, the Blue Wisp Big Band has been the top jazz orchestra in Cincinnati. The hard bop-oriented big band started recording in 1981: first, an LP sponsored by the Cincinnati television station WKRC, and then four for the Mopro label, founded by Fred and Helen Morr, in the 1980s. The Mopro LPs were reissued in the mid -’90s on two CDs on the California label Sea Breeze, with one of the sets recorded in Los Angeles during a West Coast tour in 1984. Through the devoted and hard work of Helen Morr, the LPs were distributed around the country and Europe, garnering notice, good reviews, and airplay around the world. Among the group’s more notable members were trumpeter Tim Hagans and bassist Lynn Seaton. The band continued to perform at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati on Wednesday nights until its closure in the summer of 2014. After a six-month tenure at Japp’s Annex in downtown Cincinnati, a short stint at Pirate’s Den in Westwood, and three years at the Urban Artifact in Northside, the band has a new home at Caffè Vivace in Walnut Hills. A $15 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set, if the total for beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum. Important Notices: If you do not check in by 15 minutes into the start of the set, we reserve the right to resell your seats with no refund. Tickets for this performance are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, a one-time transfer to a future Blue Wisp Big Band show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.
Brasilia

Brasilia

Thu, Nov 05

Brasilia fuses the improvisational influences of American jazz with the wide palette of Brazilian musical styles. The band includes pianist Phil DeGreg, trumpeter Kim Pensyl, vibraphonist Rusty Burge, bassist Aaron Jacobs, and drummer John Taylor, all professors at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and nationally well-respected players. The band frequently performs around the Midwest.


Brasilia was formed in 2008 following Phil’s four-month Fulbright Fellowship residency at the University of Campinas, near Sao Paulo, Brazil. The group performs classic popular Brazilian repertoire and original music with plenty of room for improvisation. Their repertoire includes songs in samba, bossa-nova, choro, baião, and frevo styles, including works by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Edu Lobo, João Donato, Hermeto Pascoal, and others.


A $15 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set, if the total for beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum.


Important Notices:


If you do not check in by 15 minutes into the start of the set, we reserve the right to resale your seats with no refund.


Tickets for this performance are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, a one-time transfer to a future show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.

Diego Figueiredo

Diego Figueiredo

Fri, Nov 06

“Diego Figueiredo is one of the greatest guitarists I’ve seen in my whole life”. The world needs to listen to his music. (George Benson)


Diego Figueiredo is a new star of the guitar world. He is only 34, and he has release 23 Cds, 3 DVDs, and he has playing in more than 60 countries around the world. He is winner of several important competitions like Montreux Jazz Competition, VISA Prize and some others. Diego is presenting now his new concert “ From the Classical to the Jazz”. It is a fusion between Jazz, Bossa nova and Classical music. Diego has an unique interpretation, with a lot of technique, much emotion, and his show has been a great sucsses about to the audience.


Diego Figueiredo was born in Franca, Brazil, in 1980, and at the age of 4, he used to strike poses carrying his small guitar. At six, he got a mandolin, which was kept in a very special place in his house. Diego played many instruments before choosing the electric guitar when he was twelve, playing in theaters and local pubs, revealing the great art of improvising and harmonizing. At 15, he conquered theaters and nightclubs in many different Brazilian states, playing solo or with renowned musicians.


Besides being a guitar player, Diego is a producer, arranger, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist.


Brazil continuously fosters new stars that impress and amaze their audiences with their joy and exceptional technique. Diego Figueiredo makes new fans every time he enters the stage, and very few others play the guitar as expressively as he does


Having received awards twice at the “MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL” as one of the greatest guitarists in the world, Diego Figueiredo performs one amazing concert uniting technique and emotion in a fusion of Brazilian music and jazz. Diego Figueiredo presents the most requested show of Brazilian music.

With a variety of work already released, Diego is doing shows on the most important stages around the world enchanting and charming the public wherever he goes with his unique touch.


Diego has recorded and performed with big names like Gilberto Gil, João Bosco, Roberto Menescal, Toquinho, Belchior, Fafá de Belém, Angela Maria, Toninho Horta, Larry Coryell, Ken Peplowski, Lewis Nash, John Clayton, Cyrille Aimée and many others.


He has performed in great places like Montreux Jazz Festival, Hong Kong Jazz Festival, Rio das Ostras Jazz Festival ( Brazil) , Oakville Jazz Festival, La Paz Festijazz, Jarasum Jazz Festival (Korea), Copenhage Jazz Festival, Douro Jazz (Portugal), Vail Jazz Party, Syracuse Jazz Festival, Aspen Jazz Series, Dizzy´s Club NY, Birdland NY, Joe´s Pub NY, Jazz Alley, Guanabara ( London), Harlem Jazz Festival ( Netherlands), Jazz Port Townsend, Django Fest, Zoellner Arts Center, Centre Stage Reston, Bourbon Street, Onda Jazz, Jazzhus Montmartre, Quasimodo ( Berlim), Zhuhai Jazz Festival (China), Vitello´s Jazz, Miami Festival, Jazz on the Platz, and hundreds more.


A $20 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set, if the total for beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum.

Important Notices:

If you do not check in by 15 minutes into the start of the set, we reserve the right to resell your seats with no refund.


Tickets for this performance are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, a one-time transfer to a future show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.

MARQUIS HILL: Sweet Surrender Trio

MARQUIS HILL: Sweet Surrender Trio

Sat, Nov 07

Marquis Hill - Trumpet, percussion synths, effects

Micah Collier- Bass, percussion

Jillian Upshaw - Drums, percussion


From his beginnings as one of Chicago’s most exciting young trumpeters to his emergence as an internationally acclaimed musician, composer and bandleader, Marquis Hill has worked to break down the boundaries between musical genres. Jazz, hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house and neo-soul are all part of the African-American creative tradition he embraces. “It all comes from the same tree,” he says. “They simply blossomed from different branches.”


Born in Chicago in 1987 and raised on the city’s South Side, Hill began playing drums at age four before switching to trumpet in sixth grade. At Kenwood Academy, he excelled in its renowned jazz program and studied with Chicago greats including Bobby Broom, Willie Pickens and Tito Carrillo through the Ravinia Jazz Scholars program. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Northern Illinois University and a master’s in jazz pedagogy from DePaul University.


While in college, Hill became an active presence on Chicago’s music scene, performing and learning from artists such as Fred Anderson, Ernest Dawkins and Von Freeman. His soulful, highly textured trumpet sound—drawing on influences ranging from Miles Davis and Clifford Brown to Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd—quickly established him as a distinctive voice.


Before winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition in 2014, Hill had already built a reputation as a member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, an in-demand sideman, and a bandleader. He also founded his own label and released four albums independently. His breakthrough led to a move to New York and a rapidly expanding international career.


Today, Hill maintains a nonstop touring schedule while continuing to draw inspiration from the music of his Chicago roots. His work reflects a belief that musical boundaries are ultimately artificial—and that the many branches of Black music remain connected to the same creative tree.


This performance is part of the the (MJC)


MIDWEST JAZZ COLLECTIVE (MJC) is a consortium of nearly 20 clubs and presenters dedicated to jazz across Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. They are aligned with a shared passion for the preservation and advancement of the great American art form that is jazz. Together they announce their third collaboratively routed tour featuring trumpeter Marquis Hill. The tour includes 12 concert engagements and several educational workshops at regional universities.


A $20 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set, if the total for beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum.


Important Notices:


If you do not check in by 15 minutes into the start of the set, we reserve the right to resell your seats with no refund.


Tickets for this performance are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, a one-time transfer to a future show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.