Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame

10/15/2026

There's more jazz in October!

06/22/2026

🎷✨ CELEBRATE THE LEGENDS OF CINCINNATI JAZZ! ✨🎶
Join us for an unforgettable afternoon of world-class music, celebration, and jazz history at the 🎺 Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame’s 12th Annual Induction Ceremony!
📅 Sunday, June 28, 2026
⏰ 3:00 PM
📍 Mayerson JCC, 8485 Ridge Rd. at Ronald Reagan Hwy, Cincinnati, OH 45236
Get ready to swing, groove, and be inspired as we honor the newest class of Cincinnati jazz greats:
🎸 Bill Jackson – Bass Master
🎤 Kathy Wade – Vocalist & Producer
🎹 Allaudin (Bill) Mathieu – Composer, Pianist & Director
🥁 Jimmy Madison – Drummer & Producer
🌟 Special Recognition Awards:
🎙️ Nick Clooney – Founding Emcee
🎬 Dick Murgatroyd – Founding Producer
🎬 Doug Lillibridge – Founding Producer
🎤 The afternoon will be emceed by Cincinnati favorite Jim LaBarbara, “The Music Professor,” bringing his signature charm and deep love of jazz to the celebration.
🎶 And the music? Absolutely incredible!
Experience powerhouse performances from Carmon DeLeone’s Studio Big Band, along with live music featuring each of the inductees and their orchestras. Expect soaring solos, toe-tapping rhythms, and the rich sounds that have shaped Cincinnati’s vibrant jazz legacy. 🎷🔥
🎟️ Tickets:
$30 in advance
$35 at the door
$10 Students
Don’t miss this spectacular celebration of the artists, innovators, and visionaries who keep Cincinnati jazz swinging strong!
For tickets and more information:
🌐 https://www.cincyjazzhof.org/tickets
🎶🎷✨

Honoring the lifetime contributions of Cincinnati jazz musicians for their work in artistic, educational, and promotional advancement of this art form.

06/17/2026

It's not too late to get tickets to see these fine Cincinnati Jazz Icons inducted into the CJHoF! Emceed by the Jazz Professor, Jim LaBarbara, the show is 3p.m. June 28 at the Mayerson JCC, Ridge Road. Come check out Cincy Jazz at Dusk fine student players, the Carmon DeLeone Big Band, and performances by some of the Inductees as well as various local jazz luminaries.
(Below, clockwise from top left: ) a young Bill "Allaudin" Mathieu, drummer (and rock-climber) Jimmy Madison, singer and impressario Kathy Wade, bassist Bill Jackson.

05/20/2026

June is full of jazz -- including June 28th, the induction of a new class of Hall-of-Famers! Get your tickets now (see first comment below)

05/14/2026

The great Cincinnati bass player Michael Moore (CJHoF class of 2018) kicks off "Lover Come Back" with some other all-stars back in 1975:

135 likes, 17 comments. "CARTER, BARNES, BRAFF, JACQUET, HACKETT, HODES, ERWIN, HUBBLE, BIGARD, DICKENSON (Nice 7.21- 25.75)"

05/11/2026

Guess who ???

This Cincinnati native has been singing in competitions and solo recitals for more than 50 years in an international career spanning the US, Canada, Europe, the Carribean, and North Africa.

This inductee has shared stages with legends including Eartha Kitt, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, Shirley Horn, Diane Schuur, Anita Baker, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Whitney Houston, and Ramsey Lewis. The singer is a featured soloist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (Summermusik), and Kentucky Symphony Orchestra.

Believing in giving back to the community, our inductee is the creator and executive producer of a national award-winning and multiple regional EMMY-winning performing arts literacy program for children.

A graduate of Withrow High School, Xavier University/Edgecliff College and UC's College-Conservatory of Music, this dynamic personality is thankful for the family, mentors, musicians and audiences who shaped and made the journey possible.

Guess who ???

05/04/2026

Who is he???
This Sufi practicioner grew up in Cincinnati, started playing the piano at age 6 and in high school played gigs around town on both piano and trumpet.

At age 14 he approached Stan Kenton after a concert here and told him "I want to write for your band". Kenton said ok and for the next three years, whenever the band played at Cincinnati Gardens, he went to the rehearsal with new charts for the band to run through. Later as a young adult he toured with the Kenton band.

After tiring of the road, he joined the nascent Second City comedy troupe in Chicago where he stayed until the mid-60s when he joined a sister theater, The Committee, in San Francisco. It was just in time for "the blooming of the Haight and The Summer of Love", he writes.

Later he studied raga with Prandit Pran Nath and Nubian vocalist and oudist Hamza El-Din taught him African music. He has written five books and had his unrecorded Kenton charts recorded by a talented Milwaukee jazz band in the early 2000's. He has lived one year for each key on a piano.
Who is he???

04/29/2026

Who is he?????

This 2026 Inductee started playing drums at the Pl***oy club downtown when he was only 14. He played at "The Living Room", "Whisper Room" (on Reading Road, "The Blind Lemon", "Mahogany Hall" and "New Dilly's Pub" in Mt. Adams.

On a family trip to New Orleans at that age, his father talked Gerry Mulligan into hearing his son play, so Mulligan invited him to sit in with his band. Years later, the young musician was playing professionally with Mulligan.

Later on he was captivated by the mountains near him and he took up rock climbing.

He has played with numerous musicians including Marion McPartland, James Brown, Bobby Hackett, Joe Farell, David Matthews, Roland Kirk, Carmen McRae, Harold Danko, Chet Baker, Urbie Green, Michel LeGrand, Don Sebesky, George Benson, Nina Simone, Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, to name a few. He has recorded over 50 LPs, as sideman, as well as leading his own groups.

Who is he?

04/19/2026

The Induction of the 12th class of Hall of Fame honorees is coming up June 28th!

This Inductee learned guitar chords to play in his family band in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He also learned to play the trumpet in his school band. A semester at Berklee College of Music taught him jazz harmony. And a 3-month summer gig in a Colorado resort gave him the opportunity to play bass in a trio setting.

He can play in many styles -- standards, fusion, Latin, Caribbean, Broadway shows -- and has shared the stage with a variety of national players including pianists Les McCann and Mulgrew Miller, saxophonists, Steve Wilson, Javon Jackson and Tim Warfield, steel drum greats Ray Holman and Tom Miller, and has also been featured with composer/percussionist Roland Vasquez on his work “Music for 3 Mallets and Jazz Rhythm Section”. His theater credits include Wicked, Mean Girls, In the Heights, Mythic, and many others. He plays bass on several recordings: “J Curve Jazz Collection Vol. II”, Tropicoso “Un Cuento”, Bacchanal Steel Band “Standard”, 12 Rods “Split Personality” (V2 Records), among others. He has performed on stage with Joe Piscopo, Regis Philbin, and Don Rickles.

His career is richer in great part due to his experiences with other CJHOF members. The list includes but is not limited to: John Von Ohlen, Mary Ellen Tanner, Lee Stolar, Cal Collins, Kenny Poole, Mike Wade, Melvin Broach, Marc Fields, Steve Schmidt, Pam Mallory, Wayne Yeager and Pat Kelly.

Who do you think he is?

Get your tickets:

Tickets for the CJHOF Induction ceremony can be purchased online