Caffe Vivace's Upcoming Shows

Get ready for a high-energy evening as the CCM Jazz Lab Band brings the funk to the stage! Blending deep grooves with the spontaneity and excitement of jazz, the ensemble will explore funk music spanning the 1970s through today.

Expect powerful rhythms, bold horn lines, and plenty of surprises. Bring your dancing shoes—this is one concert where sitting still may not be an option!

Ticket prices range from $10-$12 per person.

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.

Saxophone - Alec Davis, Christian Paradiso, Andrew Brown, Kaleb Swedlund, and Phil Black

Trumpet - Thana Rangsiyawaranon, Kahle Sykora, Layden Dukes, and Gabriel Pimental

Trombone - Spencer Merk, Kosta Brunson, Ethan Dickerson, Adam Wheeler

Guitar - Tristien Krueger

Piano - Zach Karp

Bass - Mason Daugherty

Drums - Alex Merk

Inspired by Eric Lechliter’s Original Farm League Big Band, After the Break is the latest addition to

the Cincinnati area’s flourishing Big Band scene. The band was formed with the desire to give local

composers an opportunity to write while striving to revitalize an interest in large ensemble jazz with

a younger audience. Formed by recent graduates of The University of Cincinnati’s College

Conservatory of Music Alec G. Davis and Thomas Putterbaugh, the band features a range of skilled

writers and soloists from throughout the surrounding area.

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.

Mandy Gaines — vocalist, Brad Myers — guitar

Mandy Gaines began singing at an early age in school and church. She holds a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Speech/Arts. She has continued her studies through private vocal instruction and workshops emphasizing oral interpretation, jazz improvisation, vocal technique, theatre, and broadcasting/media studies.

Brad Myers, as a guitarist, he is known to be a musical shape shifter, of sorts, moving between gigs accompanying Mandy Gaines, swinging with the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, getting funky with Steve Schmidt’s Organ Trio and John Zappa’s Now Hear This, or deep musical conversations with Michael Sharfe and an array of Cincinnati’s best drummers in the Sanguinaria Trio. He also is part of Tinfoil Hat Cowboys: A Country Western Conspiracy, Aja: a Tribute to the Music of Steely Dan, Joe’s Truck Stop, The Hiders, and Ray’s Music Exchange. He also teaches at UC’s College Conservatory of Music and the CCM Prep Jazz Department."

A $15 food/drink 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.

Sean Mason – Piano

Mark Lewandowski – Bass

Domo Branch – Drums

Sean Mason stands as one of the most compelling and visionary artists to emerge from the jazz tradition in the 21st Century—a jazz pianist and composer whose impact extends far beyond the bandstand. A Grammy Award nominee, Bessie Award winner, and Bistro Award recipient, Mason has distinguished himself not merely as a leading voice within the music, but as a cultural architect reshaping the genre’s relationship with style, movement, and artistic identity.

His artistry is defined by a rare duality: a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition and a philosophical commitment to the music as a human practice. Mason is drawn to the way jazz holds opposites in suspension—discipline and freedom, individuality and communion, thought and instinct—without forcing them into resolution. As Mason notes, “The beauty of the music is that it can hold contradiction without breaking. It can be refined and raw, structured and open, intimate and vast.” For Mason, jazz is not an act of presentation, but a condition of discovery, one in which meaning is formed in real time, and where musicians and listeners arrive together at something more truthful than either could have produced alone.

From his roots in Charlotte, North Carolina to the world stage, Mason’s trajectory reflects a steady and self-defined evolution. Shaped by formative experiences at Juilliard and within the lineage of the Marsalis tradition, he has developed a voice that is distinctly his own. Today, his impact is measured not only by his technical command, but by the way his influence shapes a new generation, one that reflects his sensibility in how they hear, move, and inhabit the music.

Mason’s recorded work traces a clear and deliberate artistic evolution. His debut, The Southern Suite, introduced a voice marked by depth and clarity, praised for its “spirit of celebration” and recognized as “a powerful introduction to Mason’s artistry and vision.” From the outset, critics noted both his maturity and individuality, describing the work as “forward-looking music” and “a bold statement of purpose from a generational talent.” That trajectory has only deepened. With A Breath of Fresh Air, Mason arrives fully in his own language: a work widely described as “a sweeping statement of renewal,” “deeply rooted in tradition and effortlessly self-authentic,” and “a bold new chapter in Mason’s artistic evolution.” Now widely regarded as “a leading pianist of his generation” and “a singular artistic voice,” Mason’s work stands as both a continuation and a redefinition of the art form.

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 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.

Jim Snidero - alto saxophone

Stefan Karlsson - piano

Ugonna Okegwo - bass

Jason Tiemann - drums

Described in Downbeat Magazine as an “alto sax virtuoso” and “master musician”, New York saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero encapsulates what is both unique and compelling about jazz, reflected in over 20 million plays on Spotify and Apple Music. With 26 albums as a leader and many more as a sideman, Snidero is a veteran recording artist (EMI, Milestone, Savant,…) and sideman (Mingus Big Band, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Palmieri, Jack McDuff, Sting…) that can truly say “been there, done that”.

With his 2021 recording Live at the Deer Head Inn garnering a 5 star “masterpiece” review

(Downbeat) and 2024 album For All We Know a top “Shock” review (Jazz Magazine-France),

Snidero has created two jazz classics for the new millennium. The Times states that “ Snidero has let

his influences reveal something special” while the Guardian calls his improvisation “mind-boggling

and, at the same time, hugely enjoyable”. As a composer, the Penguin Guide to Jazz heralds him as

a “genuinely significant figure in jazz compositions”, and he is the best-selling jazz author of his

generation (Jazz Conception Series and The Essence Series).

Over the past two decades, Stefan Karlsson has been an elite member of the Eddie Gomez trio, which has included legends Jimmy Cobb and Billy Hart touring the US, Asia and Europe. Having been the bassist with the legendary Bill Evans trio, Gomez immediately recognized Stefan’s musical and technical brilliance on the piano, which perfectly blend both tradition and modernity into a powerfully personal voice. A native of Sweden, Stefan’s diverse discography encompasses more than 85 recordings including eight leader projects, while his compositions have been featured on recordings, jazz fakebooks, movies and TV series.

Originally from London, German-Nigerian bassist Ugonna Okegwo moved to New York in 1989 joining the Jackie Terrasson trio, touring and recording several albums for Blue Note records. Beginning in 1997, he joined trumpeter Tom Harrell’s Quintet, considered one of the most important jazz groups on the international jazz scene. He toured with Harrell for over twenty years, recording 6 albums with an undeniable jazz giant.

In addition, he has worked with an impressive list of jazz artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Johnny Griffin, Benny Carter, James Moody, Pharoah Sanders and many others

Arriving in New York in 2013, Jason Tiemann has quietly become one of the most in-demand drummers in the city and beyond. Known for his crisp technique and deep propulsive groove and swing, he has performed with vast and varied array of musicians spanning multiple generations including Benny Golson, Houston Person, Randy Brecker, Lew Tabackin, Peter Bernstein, Eric Alexander, Jeremy Pelt and Melissa Aldana. Tiemann is currently holding the drummer chair in the Hubert Laws quartet, considered the best flutist in jazz history.

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 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.