Nous (Smith, Brown, Plank)

Join us for an evening of surprise and intrigue. Nous is a trio comprised of three of the area's most exciting and creative musical personalities: Howie Smith (saxophone), Theron Brown (piano), and Aidan Plank (bass). When these three musicians get together, there is no telling what direction the music will take. Whatever the direction is, you will certainly not be disappointed!
Tickets tonight are $25 each (plus $3 fee).
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Howie Smith has presented concerts and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Australia, and has worked with musicians, composers and ensembles as varied as Anthony Braxton, Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Elvis Presley, Pauline Oliveros, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Tone Road Ramblers. His recorded performances are equally diverse and his catalogue of compositions includes works for conventional big bands and combos; for string, wind and percussion ensembles; for electronics; and for mixed media. Smith is a professor emeritus at Cleveland State University, where he was the coordinator of jazz studies from 1979 to 2006 and served as chair of the Art Department from 2003 to 2007. He has been associated with Yamaha as an artist/clinician since 1971.
www.howiesmith.com
A glimpse of gospel, jazz, and soul from the great legends is what inspires the sound of pianist Theron Brown’s music. But the reason he plays is to encourage and influence people through his talents.
Born and raised in Zanesville, Ohio, Theron currently resides in Akron, Ohio, where he is the artist coordinator for Curated Storefront, artist director at I Promise School, and the founder and artistic director of the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival which takes place annually in Akron, Ohio’s downtown historic district. You can see him regularly performing at many jazz clubs and theaters in northeast Ohio. Theron is immensely involved in promoting the arts scene in Ohio.
Theron received an amazing opportunity as he auditioned for and was cast as young Herbie Hancock in the 2016 released film about Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle.
In 2019, Theron released his debut album, No Concepts. Theron is currently working on his second album titled “Spirit Fruit”, which reflects on essential and fundamental characteristics that bring positive vibes to peoples lives. This was inspired by Galatians 5:22-23.
https://www.theronbrownmusic.com/
A native of Oberlin, Ohio, bassist Aidan Plank enjoys performing a diverse range of music throughout Northern Ohio. He studied with bassist and composer David Morgan as well as with Kevin Switalski of the Cleveland Orchestra. Aidan is a graduate of Cleveland State University. Aidan has performed with Dan Wall, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Joe Maneri, Janis Siegel, Frankie Avalon, Tierney Sutton, and many others. Aidan played baroque bass in the premier of Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer’s Le Pouvoir de l’Amour (composed in 1743) in 2002 at Oberlin College as well as in the world premier of Randall Woolf and Robin Stranahan’s ‘pop-up’ opera Frozen Community, produced by Real Time Opera in 2013. Along with enjoying playing in the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Aidan can currently be seen performing explorations of improvisation in duo with guitarist Daniel Lippel.
https://aidanplank.com