{"id":311689,"date":"2026-06-18T12:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311689\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T12:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:33:11","slug":"new-director-orlando-watson-talks-tri-c-jazzfest-cleveland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311689\/","title":{"rendered":"New director Orlando Watson talks Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just like a memorable jazz solo built around improvisation, you sometimes know where they\u2019re going until they finally arrive.<\/p>\n

That, in a nutshell, is how Cleveland native Orlando Watson, a powerful and soulful baritone vocalist and distinguished lyricist, ended up last year being named the new executive director of Tri-C JazzFest<\/a>. He succeeded the retired Terri Pontremoli, who served in the position from 2002 to 2004 before returning for a stint that ran from 2011 into November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI served as associate director of Tri-C Jazz Festival from 2019 to 2022 alongside the legendary Terri Pontremoli,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned a lot from her before leaving to go to Pittsburgh, where I was a senior director of programming for the Pittsburgh International Jazz Fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there for three years before deciding to leave for California. That\u2019s where we were headed right before I got the call from Tri-C, which pulled me back home. I thought it was an opportunity that was worth pivoting for. It\u2019s been a beautiful homecoming \u2014 I\u2019m glad to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s truly a full-circle moment; Watson talked about the fact he not only studied at Tri-C but early on took drum lessons as a teenager while attending its \u201cSummer With the Jazz Masters\u201d camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so honored to be back home and just take the helm of the festival and really push forth the artistic community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 47th annual Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland takes place from June 25 through 27 at Playhouse Square.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe “Queen of Percussion,” Sheila E. worked with Prince during the late artist’s “Purple Rain” and is well known for her single “A Love Bizarre.” She will perform during Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland at 8 p.m. June 25 at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre. (Courtesy of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland)<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s affair features 10 indoor concerts, including \u201cThe Queen of Percussion\u201d Sheila E. and Grammy Award winners Durand Bernarr, Kurt Elling and Nicholas Payton, as well as Savion Glover and Ron Carter, Spyro Gyra and The Ohio Players.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Ohio Players – a group that’s released more than a dozen albums and worked with musical artists ranging from Snoop Dogg and Salt-N-Pepa to Soundgarden and the Red Hot Chili Peppers – will bring to a close the Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland with a concert at 9:30 p.m. June 27 at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre. (Courtesy of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to do a couple of things simultaneously,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI want to preserve the jazz foundation that we\u2019ve built here with straight-ahead jazz, big band, bebop, ragtime and swing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the festival is all over the place, but not at all. It\u2019s a little bit for everybody, with streamlined programming. I\u2019m just really trying to deepen the festival culturally for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TrumpeterTrumpeter and Cleveland native Dominick Farinacci will share a show with pianist Jon Thomas at 6 p.m. June 26 at Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theatre as part of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland. (John Abbott)<\/p>\n

One notable change regarding this year\u2019s festival has to do with the programming of free outdoor entertainment under Playhouse Square\u2019s chandelier on Euclid Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to open it up to a broader community to create more jazz-adjacent programming on outdoor stages,\u201d he said. \u201cPreviously featured were local and regional artists but never national artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make that stage accessible and affordable because it was my aim and goal to just provide equity to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

National acts such as Savion Glover featuring PROjECt.9, Tito Puente Jr. and Nestor Torres, Weedie Braimah and Hands of Time and Charles Haynes and The Tabernacle will perform outdoors.<\/p>\n

At 34, Watson is the youngest director in the history of the festival, and his story provides a blueprint for students across all paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know what\u2019s next, so always be open for a larger plan or purpose in your life,\u201d he said. \u201cI was trying to move to sunny California, and here I am in Cleveland. What\u2019s really cool about me in this position \u2014 and not just my age \u2014 is I\u2019m also an African-American male.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresentation matters to me in this position, which will provide an opportunity for Black and brown kids and students in the Greater Cleveland community to see what\u2019s possible at a relatively young age. So I\u2019m really honored to serve as an example and as a model in a way which I didn\u2019t have coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CalledCalled “one of the most compelling voices in contemporary jazz” on the website of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, Laurin Talece will perform on the event’s final evening, June 27, at Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theatre. (Courtesy of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland)
\nThe 47th annual Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland<\/p>\n

When: June 25 through 27<\/p>\n

Where: Playhouse Square and Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Shows: Ticketed and free.<\/p>\n

Info: 216-241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just like a memorable jazz solo built around improvisation, you sometimes know where they\u2019re going until they finally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[129901,139,141,140,129898,129899,129900,129897],"class_list":["post-311689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-cleveland-jazz-events","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-watson","tag-playhouse-square","tag-sheila-e","tag-tri-c-jazzfest-cleveland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}