

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Blue Wisp Big Band
- **Event Start and End Date**: Wed, 15 Apr, 2026 at 07:30 pm – Wed, 15 Apr, 2026 at 10:00 pm (-04:00)
- **Event Description**: Jeremy Long — alto saxophone
Jamie Walkenhauer — alto saxophone
Brent Gallaher — tenor saxophone
Dan Drees — tenor saxophone
Larry Dickson — baritone saxophone
Jeff Owen — trombone
Clarence Pawn — trombone
Brian Stevens — trombone
Gary Langhorst — bass trombone
Jeff Folkens — trumpet
Hank Mautner — trumpet
John Zappa — trumpet
Kim Pensyl — trumpet
Steve Schmidt — piano
Mike Sharfe — bass
Jim Leslie — drums

Cincinnati's legendary Blue Wisp Big Band celebrates its 45th year of swingin' Big Band music at Caffe Vivace.
Founded in January 1980 by drummer John Von Ohlen and trumpeter Don Johnson, the Blue Wisp Big Band got its start in and its name from the late Blue Wisp Jazz Club. Von Ohlen, a native of Indianapolis, moved to the Cincinnati area after many years on the road playing with world-class jazz orchestras, most notably those of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman.

After hearing all of the fine musicians in the area, he felt there was a need to form a group because most of them “weren’t playing any jazz, which is the reason they started playing in the first place.” He felt the desire to start a “world-class big band and wanted to put it in a tavern, a beer joint.”

Don Johnson, who had been on the Cincinnati scene for years, suggested which instrumentalists should play in the band. Von Ohlen states, “Don was the horn connection.” Pianist Steve Schmidt and bassist Michael Sharfe were already playing with Von Ohlen at the Blue Wisp in the Steve Schmidt Trio, Wednesday through Saturday nights, so the rhythm section was easily formed.

Von Ohlen remembers approaching Paul and Marjean Wisby, the original owners of the Blue Wisp, with the idea, “Wednesday is a slow night. Why don’t we bring in a big band and blow the roof off the place? It worked real good.”Since its inception, the Blue Wisp Big Band has been the top jazz orchestra in Cincinnati. The hard bop-oriented big band started recording in 1981: first, an LP sponsored by the Cincinnati television station WKRC, and then four for the Mopro label, founded by Fred and Helen Morr, in the 1980s. The Mopro LPs were reissued in the mid -’90s on two CDs on the California label Sea Breeze, with one of the sets recorded in Los Angeles during a West Coast tour in 1984. Through the devoted and hard work of Helen Morr, the LPs were distributed around the country and Europe, garnering notice, good reviews, and airplay around the world. Among the group’s more notable members were trumpeter Tim Hagans and bassist Lynn Seaton.

The band continued to perform at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati on Wednesday nights until its closure in the summer of 2014. After a six-month tenure at Japp’s Annex in downtown Cincinnati, a short stint at Pirate’s Den in Westwood, and three years at the Urban Artifact in Northside, the band has a new home at Caffè Vivace in Walnut Hills.

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 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 Blue Wisp Big Band show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/cincinnati/blue-wisp-big-band/200029431045018
- **Event Categories**: entertainment, music, parties, workshops, jazz
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 17

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: https://tickets.caffevivace.com/shows/1643/?date=2026-04-15&utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=cincinnati-events

## Event venue details

- **city**: Cincinnati
- **state**: OH
- **country**: United States
- **location**: Caffè Vivace - Cincinnati, OH
- **lat**: 39.125694968126
- **long**: -84.488043872538
- **full address**: Caffè Vivace - Cincinnati, OH, 973 E McMillan St, Cincinnati, OH 45206-2007, United States

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: Caffè Vivace - Cincinnati, OH (https://allevents.in/org/caffè-vivace-cincinnati-oh/12650174)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/f2ec5e38ac73c2104e5cce7a9b47daca067cf5d6ef9057efb1b97d33fc6a904f-rimg-w1200-h905-dc181415-gmir?v=1773723478
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/d401f63346c99e09c23dd29ade0184d20a4537974f829f804f0802ebe4f7dbeb-rimg-w300-h300-dc181415-gmir?v=1773723478

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Wed, 15 Apr, 2026 at 07:30 pm (-04:00)
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** Caffè Vivace - Cincinnati, OH, 973 E McMillan St, Cincinnati, OH 45206-2007, United States
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** Caffè Vivace - Cincinnati, OH
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** entertainment, music, parties, workshops, jazz
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Blue Wisp Big Band ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

## Structured Data (JSON-LD)

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        "startDate": "2026-04-15T19:30:00-04:00",
        "endDate": "2026-04-15T22:00:00-04:00",
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        "organizer": [
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                "description": "We love jazz and we love coffee. Our goal is to create a place that Cincinnatians can go to get quality doses of both! We call our dream, Caffè Vivace. "
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```