Setting the Tempo
Cleveland Bonéy Builds Local Jazz Community…
Redding’s cultural life is expanding in quiet, deliberate ways. New experiences are taking shape through consistent effort—artists, organizers and educators creating space for something to grow. Among those efforts, jazz has begun to find its footing, carried by musicians willing to build it from the ground up.
That is where Cleveland Bonéy comes in.
A pianist with a foundation in both classical training and jazz, Bonéy works from the center of the music. In jazz, the piano is not just an instrument—it sets structure, shapes harmony and creates the space where everything else can unfold, requiring equal parts discipline and instinct—one hand keeping order, the other quietly testing its limits.
“I am striving to create a sense of community,” Bonéy says. “Music is the great unifier, and my goal is to use it to bring people together from all walks of life.”
His work extends beyond performance. In a region without a long-established jazz infrastructure, Bonéy has taken on the less-visible task of building one. Through locally organized concerts, he has created opportunities for musicians and audiences to encounter a form of music that asks for a different kind of attention—one that doesn’t always reveal itself immediately.
These concerts are not built for scale. They are built for presence.
Rooms are smaller, audiences closer and the distance between performer and listener reduced. The music unfolds in real time, shaped by the players and the energy of the room. For many in Redding, it is a first experience with jazz not as background, but as something to be followed and felt—sometimes even figured out along the way.
That shift matters. “The enjoyment and excitement from the audience feeds the performers,” Bonéy says. “That energy feeds the band, and the band returns the favor to the audience through the music. It’s a magical exchange.”
Bonéy sees that connection from the other side. “The experience is often mesmerizing for those new to the genre,” he says. “Jazz harmony and melody evoke a feeling of wonder because they remain complex yet simple at the same time.”
Bonéy’s path to this work is grounded in longevity. Decades at the piano have produced a style that is steady and responsive rather than showy. Phrases develop and resolve in ways that feel conversational, creating a sense that the music is as much about listening as it is about playing—sometimes even more so.
That same sensibility carries into his role as an organizer.
Creating a concert series in a place without an existing scene requires consistency, patience and a willingness to build slowly. There are no guarantees of audience or momentum. Each event becomes both a performance and an act of cultivation—of listeners, expectations and trust.
Over time, that effort begins to accumulate.
Audiences return. Musicians connect. The unfamiliar becomes familiar. What once felt niche begins to find a place within the broader cultural life of the city.
Bonéy’s work as an educator reinforces that growth. Teaching music in a smaller community carries a different weight. Instruction becomes less about progression through a system and more about developing an ear, timing and an understanding of how to listen and respond—skills that don’t always come quickly, but tend to stay once they do.
Those skills translate beyond music. They shape how people engage with each other, their surroundings and the idea that something complex can be understood over time.
Its identity is being shaped by smaller efforts—downtown activation, cultural programming, independent projects—that together create a more layered sense of place.
Within that context, jazz occupies an interesting position.
It requires attention, rewards patience and resists simplification. Introducing it into a community is less about popularity and more about expanding what people expect to encounter locally—and perhaps what they expect of themselves as listeners.
Bonéy approaches that work without forcing it.
There is no attempt to replicate a larger city or impose an identity that does not fit. The scale remains appropriate to the place. The focus stays on quality and consistency.
The result is subtle, but it is real.
“Jazz has always been a part of the Redding music scene, and I see it as my job to help maintain its relevance,” Bonéy says.
Through efforts like the North State Jazz Orchestra, he is working to expand what that presence can look like. A large ensemble—40 musicians, including strings and percussion—offers a different kind of experience, one built on scale but still grounded in connection.
“A large ensemble offers an inspiring experience,” he says, “many musicians playing in concert with a single idea: bringing joy to the masses. I hope people will experience comfort, happiness, growth and healing through the music, not just as audience members, but as musicians, too.”
Redding is becoming a place where jazz can be heard, understood and appreciated as part of the broader rhythm of local life. That change happens through repetition, presence and the steady work of individuals willing to create space. •
www.northstatejazzorchestra.com
More Details:
For information on upcoming concerts, fundraisers and ways to support the North State Jazz Orchestra, visit www.northstatejazzorchestra.com or follow and connect with the group at @northstatejazzorchestra on Instagram and Facebook. The group is a newly formed nonprofit organization with the goal of maintaining a consistent music community and supporting local and regional musicians and other creatives with a living wage.
Article Written by:
John Truitt writes about Redding’s civic life, downtown momentum and the brave souls who attend planning meetings voluntarily. Active with Viva Downtown, he follows local leadership, historic preservation and community vitality wherever they gather — usually near coffee, clipboards and at least one spirited debate about parking.
