Show List

Caffe Vivace's Upcoming Shows

Joshua Redman Quartet

Joshua Redman Quartet

Wed, Oct 14

Joshua Redman — tenor saxophone

Paul Cornish — piano

Philip Norris — bass

Nazir Ebo — drums


Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and respected jazz artists to have emerged in our generation. With a career of over thirty years, it is hard to imagine a year of firsts for a musician as prolific as Redman. And yet, 2023 proved to be exactly that: launching his debut album, Where Are We, on the venerable Blue Note Records label, this album was planned largely by phone and text – a direct result of the difficulties of the pandemic - and finds Redman recording with a vocalist and writing lyrics for the first time.


Through the lens of geographic location, Redman and his band march across the United States, asking us to examine what we find critically. Of this particular assemblage, hand-picked for this album, Redman says, “The magic of this particular gathering of musicians was that we were able to come together from points afar, to converge (physically and creatively) in a particular place at a particular time; and to embrace, with fullest imagination and without the slightest reservation, the ethic of ‘serving the songs.’ In this sense, where are we is perhaps above all a meditation on the power and importance of place — the unique human beauty created when we locate ourselves in shared physical spaces together with others; the loss, anomie, and angst suffered when we divide ourselves unnaturally and unjustly apart.”


But he wasn’t supposed to be a musician. In 1991 Redman graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude and had already been accepted by Yale Law School, having deferred entrance for what was only supposed to be one year. Instead, he moved to New York City and immediately immersed himself in the jazz scene. Five months later, Redman won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition and began touring and recording with jazz masters such as Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Elvin Jones, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Dewey Redman, and Clark Terry.


As renowned for his musicianship as he is for his visionary ability to assemble talent, one of Redman’s earliest bands, heard on his 1994 album MoodSwing, includes musicians who would later become some of the most influential artists of their generation: pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade. They reunited nearly 30 years later, releasing RoundAgain (2020) and LongGone (2022) to resounding critical acclaim and sold-out performances worldwide.


He has recorded nearly two dozen albums, but Redman’s prodigious talent has taken him beyond the bandstand as well: helming the creation of the SFJAZZ Collective, an ensemble distinguished by a unique emphasis on composition; expanding jazz departments via his appointments as a Visiting Artist at Stanford University and as the Artistic Director of the Roots, Jazz, and American Music program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; and writing music for film. He wrote and performed the music for Louis Malle’s final film, “Vanya on 42nd Street,” and is both seen and heard in the Robert Altman film Kansas City.


He has recorded and performed with a vast array of luminaries, both in jazz and beyond: Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, The Dave Matthews Band, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Quincy Jones, Big Daddy Kane, B.B. King, Yo Yo Ma, The Rolling Stones, The Roots, McCoy Tyner, and Stevie Wonder, to name a few.


Born in Berkeley, California, he is the son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff.


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:


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.

Rick VanMatre with No Rules

Rick VanMatre with No Rules

Thu, Oct 15

Rick VanMatre - saxophones Rusty Burge - vibraphone Kim Pensyl – piano Aaron Jacobs – bass John Taylor - drums Rick VanMatre’s ensemble presents the sound of progressive original jazz along with a unique treatment of classic standards. His compositions and improvisations are known for surprises, both powerful and sensitive. He has presented concerts, club performances, and symphonic jazz concertos throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, and Fanfare magazine has described him as “simply an outstanding and awe-inspiring improviser and jazz composer.” Here in Cincinnati, you may have seen him as a soloist on Cincinnati Symphony pops concerts and at the College-Conservatory of Music where, as Director of the Jazz Studies Department, he played and conducted hundreds of performances. He has been named “Best Jazz Musician” by Cincinnati Magazine, and he is a Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame inductee. If the total amount of beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum, a $15 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set. 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.
G. Thomas Allen Quintet

G. Thomas Allen Quintet

Fri, Oct 16

G. Thomas Allen - voice

Andrew Toombs - piano

Greg Ward - alto saxophone

Ethan Philion - bass

Neil Hemphill - drums


G. Thomas Allen, M. Mus., Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music, is an award-winning, genre-defying artist whose career bridges opera, jazz, and contemporary performance. His appearance at the 67th Monterey Jazz Festival was praised by San Francisco Classical Voice for “effectively deploying the androgynous quality of his voice to reimagine musical boundaries,” drawing comparisons to the legendary Little Jimmy Scott.


Allen rose to national attention during the 2014–15 season with his L.A. Opera debut as The First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, in a landmark production featuring three African American countertenors onstage—a rarity in opera history. In summer 2026, he made his Cincinnati Opera debut in the world premiere of Lalovavi: An Afrofuturist Grand Opera as part of the Black Opera Project.


In 2021, Allen became the first male winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, cementing his reputation as a crossover artist at the intersection of jazz and classical music. He has headlined renowned venues including Dizzy’s Club (NYC), Minton’s Playhouse, SOUTH (Philadelphia), Keystone Korner (Baltimore), The Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, and Winter’s Jazz Club (Chicago), and has appeared at major festivals including Monterey, New Orleans, Chicago, White Plains, Buffalo, TD Moody, and Stevens Point.


His concert credits include Bernstein’s Mass with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Too Hot to Handel with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, performances with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, and a 2024 BBC Proms debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He also appeared on Saturday Night Live as a background vocalist for Jacob Collier and Coldplay.


Allen is also recognized in gospel music for his Grammy-nominated recordings with Ricky Dillard & New G. His self-titled jazz debut reached #1 on the iTunes Jazz chart, followed by Love Affair: Serenades of the Heart, with his third recording, Dream Shade, scheduled for release in early spring.


A sought-after presenter and educator, Allen has appeared at ACDA, GIA, JEN, and GMWA conferences. He holds degrees from Morgan State University and Carthage College, is the author of The AndroVox Method: A Practical Guide to Mapping Resonance in Contemporary Voice, and is the CEO and founder of Allen Studios, LLC, a private voice studio based in Chicago.


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.

Jon Lampley

Jon Lampley

Sat, Oct 17

Jon Lampley: Trumpet/Vocals

Louis Fouché: Alto Saxophone

Dave Linard: Piano

Barry Stephenson: Bass

Willie B: Drums


What comes next after 11 years with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s house band? For Jon Lampley, the answer is Notes To Self — his sophomore solo album, out June 26, 2026, and a deeply personal statement from an artist stepping fully into the spotlight. With praise from NPR and The New York Times already behind him, Lampley enters this next chapter with confidence and clarity.


Lampley has made his name as a consummate trumpet and sousaphone player, singer-songwriter, composer, and bandleader, blending jazz, soul, gospel, and contemporary roots music. On The Late Show, he performed nightly under bandleaders Louis Cato and Jon Batiste, honing his craft and stage presence before a global audience.


Produced by Lampley, The Diner (Jordan Cohen, Clyde Lawrence, Jonny Koh), and Michael Thurber, Notes To Self pairs introspective songwriting with the virtuosity, joy, and communal energy that define his career. The album reflects on ambition, optimism, faith, and growth, with standout tracks like “Greener,” “JOY,” and “Maybe.”


Beyond late-night television, Lampley has built a reputation as one of the most versatile brass players of his generation. He co-founded the high-energy jazz-funk ensemble Huntertones and has performed in amphitheaters, arenas, and festivals with jam-rock mainstays O.A.R. and pop-soul powerhouse Lake Street Dive. Long regarded as an elite collaborator and sideman, Lampley has increasingly stepped forward as a frontman, composer, and creative force in his own right.


That instinct to lead is rooted in his upbringing in Akron, Ohio, where church music shaped both his sound and philosophy. Learning trumpet by ear and absorbing the emotional power of communal performance, Lampley developed a style centered on connection, intention, and atmosphere. He continued refining his craft at The Ohio State University before relocating to Brooklyn, New York, where his artistic vision fully crystallized. Influenced by the trumpet lineage of Roy Hargrove and Louis Armstrong and the soulful vocal traditions of Sam Cooke and D’Angelo, Lampley focuses less on flash and more on creating a sound that is immediate, human, and unmistakably his own.

If the total amount of beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum, a $20 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set.


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.