Bent String Quartet @ MGB Ohio City Room

Bent String Quartet

All Star North Coast Group plays Early Jazz, Acoustic Blues, and Original Music live at Market Garden Brewery / Ohio City Room (Lower Level)!

Featuring:
Kari Ann Rutushin-vocals
Kevin Richards-guitar and strings
Reed Simon-violin
Ray DeForest-acoustic bass

@: Market Garden Brewery / Ohio City Room (Lower Level)
1947 W. 25th St.
Cleveland, Ohio
www.marketgardenbrewery.com  (In Ohio City immediately north of West Side Market)

With full dinner menu of entrees, pizzas, sandwiches, salads and of course great beer and liquor!

Plenty of easy well lit parking right behind the Market Garden Brewery

Bent String performs a mix of American roots music, including early jazz, acoustic blues, gospel, and originals.

The quartet centers on the vocals of Kari Ann Rutushin and underpinned with the feel of jazz age swing. With Reed Simon’s hot violin, Kevin T. Richards on the archtop guitars and Cleveland Blues Hall of Fame inductee, upright bassist, Raymond  DeForest. 

Ray DeForest is a master bassist. He performs with Ohio-based bands in all manner of styles, from blues to jazz, on the electric and acoustic bass. He was inducted into the Cleveland Blues Hall of Fame in October 2022. He has backed many national acts including Clark Terry (trumpet), and Johnny Johnson (pianist with Chuck Berry). He has been a band member with the jump swing band Blue Lunch for two decades.

Kevin T. Richards plays many different American roots guitar styles, including blues, jazz and early rock and roll. In Bent String, Kevin focuses on the guitar sounds and styles of Freddie Greene and Charlie Christian. He is recognized by the Ohio Arts Council as a master musician in the Country blues guitar style. Kevin was the founder of the non-profit organization Roots of American Music in 1999, and served for over two decades in various roles. 

Kari Ann Rutushin  Growing up in North East Ohio, Kari Ann started her musical journey like many musicians before her, in a church pew. She is the vocalist front and center with Bent String. She has a passion for early jazz, gospel, and blues. Kari Ann is a a professional vocalist with over a decade of sharing stages across Northeast Ohio. She entertains with her uke, washboard, flute and piano.

William Reed Simon is North East Ohio’s premier Jazz/Swing violinist. His music influences are many including Stephane Grappelli, Joe Venuti, Duke Ellington, and Stuff Smith, all giants of the earlier jazz swing age. Reed is the main soloist in Bent String. He also works with the music group the Hot Club of Cleveland, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, and Hot D’Jang, performing swing, bebop and beyond.

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