This fall, performers will hit the stage at BLU Jazz+ in confidence knowing that they are playing into microphones made by one of the music industry’s top pro-audio manufacturers.

As part of an exclusive two-year sponsorship agreement between Audio-Technica and BLU Jazz+, the venue will be outfitted with an arsenal of the brand’s dynamic & condenser microphones. The gear will be used in a wide range of stage applications, ranging from live performance to recording.

AKRON, Ohio — In the vacant basement of a former opera house in downtown Akron, the sound of jazz flute echoed off steal beams and sandstone walls Tuesday afternoon.
 
The flutist was no “pie-eyed-piper” (see the video), it was Tony Troppe, the developer responsible for the entertainment complex along Maiden Lane on downtown Akron’s north side. Troppe is preparing to open a jazz club there next month.
 
In the basement of the Everett Building at the corner of Main and West Market streets, BLU Jazz+ is a low-slung tribute to the types of underground clubs where jazz flourished in its golden age. Still, the finishing touches are upscale.

Summit County jazz fans are in for a treat this fall as an exciting and rare collection of black & white jazz photography comes to BLU Jazz+, Akron’s up-and-coming jazz club, by way of an exhibit licensing arrangement between Oberlin Conservatory of Music & the venue.

Check out BLU Jazz+ developer & co-owner, Tony Troppe, as he chats with Cool Cleveland correspondent, Marty Bielat, about the history of jazz in Akron, his desire to build a club, and some specific specs on the venue itself.

Chicago-based trumpeter and Akron native, Josh Rzepka, stands on the future site of the BLU Jazz+ stage and plays a few notes for us. (Boy, do we like the sounds of this room already…)