Production of “Applause” on Ideastream Public Media is made possible by funding by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Coming up on “Applause” who knew 70 millimeters could be so huge?

Or that Hudson has a cinematic history?

And JazzNEO gets a new band leader.

Hello and welcome to another round of “Applause”, my friends.

I'm Ideastream's Kabir Bhatia.

Can I ask you a personal question?

Are you into physical media?

You know, like all of this?

Printed photographs and vinyl and, oh, I don't know, videotapes?

Another example is the summer blockbuster, pardon the pun, “The Odyssey”, presented in all its analog majesty on an old-school 70mm projector.

Oh look, it's “The Sting” We recently paid a visit to the cinema at Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted, to see what makes 70mm so special.

Alright, I shake before I take this photo or after?

When we opened this theater, it was a complete restoration of the— it was an old Regal business before.

So what we did was we installed all digital 4K series projectors from Christie.

So they were all DCP, so there was no film involved, just all hard drives.

So DCP stands for Digital Content Package.

So those are just coming on hard drives from the film studios versus now what we're doing is we're running on 70mm film.

The way I've always described it is going to seeing like the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre and seeing it in person versus seeing a print of it.

The differences between 70mm and a digital projector, it really comes down to that there's no digital processing.

The way that this movie is struck is exactly how it's intended to be filmed.

It's not being scaled down at all.

So what you're getting here on the image is a much sharper resolution than what you're limited to at 4K resolution on a digital projector.

And then you're also getting no digital processing on the colors, so the colors are a little bit warmer, a little bit darker.

It's just a better image overall.

All the auditoriums do have still digital projectors.

We still have this one as a digital backup in case as well, but This is the only one that is using 70mm.

The reason for this is because it's a lot— it was very difficult to find this equipment.

It took us about 4 months just to source the equipment.

We got it from the state of Canada that was used in a local museum theater.

So it took us a long time just to source this, and then getting it here was about an 8-month restoration process of getting this back in working order.

This equipment hadn't been used for a very long time, so it was like using Liquid Wrench to get everything unstuck, put back together again, and used for working order before we could get it up and running.

So it's very difficult to maintain, so that's why you don't see a lot of this equipment anymore.

So the film is actually— it's run through at 24 frames a second, so it is quite large of what we have here.

It's a 3-hour movie, so if we were to unspool this out from the reels, we could probably cover up this entire theater a few times with how long this actually is.

So it is a very long movie, which is really cool to see.

It's about 35 minutes of film that'll get played through, and then what happens is that we switch to the right projector or to the left one, back and forth between them.

And the reason that we decided to do this is it's a lot safer for the film.

When you're dealing with the platter systems, you're getting film on these reels, but you're actually cutting them and stitching them together with tape, and then it's running across, so it's a lot more likely to be damaged in between the splicing, and then it could have the opportunity to touch the floor.

So what we're doing is we're playing them exactly the way that they were shipped to us, so that way there's a lot less risk involved.

The other reason that we decided to do this is that we want to play a lot of archival movies here as well.

Studios will not allow you to play any archival films unless you're playing on reel-to-reel changeover systems because they are aware of the damage that can occur when doing it on a platter.

What we're doing right now is we're playing on one reel, so it'll play for about 35 minutes.

At the last 8 seconds of the film, if you're looking at the top right of the screen, there's a little white dot that's called a cue marker.

In the industry, we call them cigarette burns.

And that's letting us know that it's about to end, so we're going to switch to the next projector.

We have about 2 people up here during every showing, so that way we're double-checking everybody's work.

What we're doing— and so because it's a reel-to-reel changeover system, there's a lot more involved too.

So we have to thread it each time, we have to do the framing for it on each reel as well, we're rewinding it after every reel, and then we're checking to make sure that our framing is right, that it sounds okay, making sure that the light levels are correct.

So there's a lot more of a manual process that's involved to it rather than just being able to go downstairs, hitting play on it on a digital projector.

In terms of experience, I would say I had none at all.

I obviously love film.

I've never actually seen 70mm before this, so, you know, it was all hands on deck with learning how to do this.

You know, I had to pour my entire, you know, time in learning how this operation works.

When we're up here, like I said, you know, it's constant.

You know, you have to be up here.

I mean, it was kind of a joke before, but we literally can't go downstairs to use the restroom.

You know, we have to be constantly watching.

And I tell customers, you know, we're watching the film with you guys just to make sure nothing's going wrong, everything's in frame, everything's perfect.

So we're running on reel-to-reel projections here.

So “The Odyssey” is on 5 reels.

So we're going to start off with reel number 1 over here, then it switches up to number 2, which is already loaded, and then we go back.

Getting the people up into the booth has been a lot of fun.

I know its what excited me a lot about doing this job in the first place is getting up here and seeing a little bit of like, it's a bit of “Night at the Museum” of pulling back the curtains and seeing how it all works.

You know, a lot of people talk about movie magic, and it's a bit of revealing of how the magic trick is being done.

So during the tours, you know, this is the best way I like describing it.

You know, there's a generation of people who maybe never seen film in their lives, and there's a generation of people who hadn't seen film in years.

So we're trying to bring back, you know, a younger and older generation to show them something truly special, you know, bring it back to Cleveland.

And, you know, if you don't know what the cigarette burn is, it's actually the marker for the projectionists to switch out the reels.

You know, it was something completely new for everyone.

They've never seen it in their lives.

They thought it was amazing to see.

Because we have 10 screens here, we're also playing “The Odyssey” in digital, so we have a really cool opportunity when people are coming in the booth to see it in the other screen so they can get a side-by-side comparison.

We've had thousands of people up in the booth and we've asked this question, you know, looking back at these images, which one do you prefer?

And almost every single person says that they prefer the film image when they're getting that side-by-side contrast.

I've always been kind of a nerd for behind-the-scenes technical stuff.

Then seeing the 70mm machines was an incredible experience.

I didn't know this was going going to be part of my experience today, and I was very happy to have it.

We couldn't have been happier to have a movie to launch with “The Odyssey.” The reception around this film has been ecstatic.

We've had sold-out shows for 4 to 5 weeks now, and it just keeps continuing to be a success.

So we're hoping that Warner Bros.

sees what we've done here and is allowing us to allocate us a “Dune Part 3” print.

But in the meantime, we want to play a lot of archival movies as well.

We've had a lot of talks about doing “2001: A Space Odyssey” “Lawrence of Arabia” or even some newer things like “Interstellar” or “Sinners” Really whatever we can get our hands on and what the studio are willing to lend out to us.

We've had people drive three and a half hours to come see this from Pennsylvania or Detroit, Michigan.

So the revival of film has been very overwhelmingly successful.

It's a little bit like vinyl records or physical media of movies, of like 4Ks and Blu-rays.

A lot of people are just curious to see how it used to be when you're talking about movie magic, of how it's being, you know, a still image being passed through.

It's an illusion that it's actually moving versus when you're showing it digitally, it's not.

You kind of lose a bit of the magic of it all.

If you want to see 70mm films in Northeast Ohio, you can at Phoenix Theaters inside Great Northern Mall.

And as they say, Check your local listings.

Now there's no 70mm theater or even IMAX theater in Hudson where I live, but we do have our own multiplex on the south end of town.

However, in the 1940s there was a theater right downtown.

Check it out in our latest edition of What It Was.

This building behind me, what it was was the Hudson Theater.

Now, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was actually Buss's General Store.

But by the Great Depression, it was empty.

And people didn't like seeing that because it was one of the first things you saw coming into the village of Hudson.

So in 1941, it was reopened as a movie theater.

They opened May the 4th with the film “Slightly Honorable.” Like me.

But after 19 years, this single-screen theater had too much competition from television, and they closed.

Big chunks of the building were demolished and eventually rebuilt as this building you see behind me today.

And even though it used to be a movie theater, this nail salon continues to tell me they don't have nachos or popcorn.

If you have an idea you'd like to share for our What It Was series, send an email to arts@ideastream.org Let's go now from Hudson to Springfield, Ohio, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright's historic Westcott House.

Recently, an Ohio ceramicist with ties to both Persia and Japan was asked to decorate this Clark County treasure.

I have fond memories of growing up in Yellow Springs, and I grew up 2 doors down from this building, riding my bike everywhere, spending a lot of time outdoors with friends.

And because I have such strong connections to this community, I always felt that it would be a good place to come back to, to build a pottery, and I've always been attracted to the ceramic sections of museums.

But I would say when, when I was a freshman at Yale Springs High School, they had a program then that was called Community Experience.

I spent a lot of time doing art as a child, And I was placed in this program for credit.

You worked with people in the community and you got credit in school, and I was placed with a couple that did pottery, and that was my introduction.

I was lucky to have that experience in high school.

My first year in college, I took a Japanese arts class and I fell in love, and the aesthetic of Japanese ceramics is in itself very distinct and unique in the world of ceramic history.

The tradition that I work in originally comes from Japan through England to the United States.

Part of the tradition is a philosophy in Japan that was started in the early 20th century called Mingei, a concept that is dear to me and it's part of how I live every day.

And the concept is that you live with handmade beautiful objects every day.

I feel like it's part of my mission as a handmade practitioner to share that with my customers and to help them learn about this beautiful idea.

I would say that I knew that I wanted to be a potter my first year in college, and it was partly because Mike Thiedeman, my professor, was so good at teaching ceramics but also teaching Japanese arts and world ceramics.

And we had the access to a wood kiln at school.

It was more important for me to learn the craft, to learn the skills, than to be in graduate school.

So my kiln is a wood kiln.

It's based on a Japanese kind of kiln that's a single chamber.

It's called an anagama, and it's a very hostile environment, the wood kiln.

Very hostile.

It's so humbling.

It's amazing that, that a kiln can have that kind of play in the process, like that kind of control in the process.

We actually started photographing pre-firing, so, you know, we started with the throwing and the painting, and we spent time with Naysan.

So when we got to the firing itself, we felt like we had more knowledge and understanding and maybe a connection to what was happening Because we knew what was inside.

We watched how he built the inside layer by layer.

So when that firing came, it was remarkable because it was kind of like the climax of a movie.

But with the photographing of it all, we were captivated both because we didn't know about wood firing.

I didn't grow up anywhere with a wood-fired potter that I knew of.

And then to enter that world with someone like Naysan, with the way he describes it and his passion for it, was a gift.

And just watching the way it was all orchestrated, it's, it's, it's like a dance.

It is like everyone's choreographer.

He's the choreographer because there's— they have to keep the fire going at a certain temperature.

You have to feed these people and there's constantly monitoring it.

And even to add another piece of wood into the kiln, it has to be choreographed.

I feel lucky that as, as a production potter, I have been able to create themes for each firing.

The authenticity of looking at different cultures, like the fact that I'm half Persian, And I did an in-depth study of Persian ceramics from history.

To me, it's a way to learn.

It's a way to understand how 800 years ago they could do a thing that is still, like, incredible.

In the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and Naysan is interesting me on the functionality, because you, you do all that beautiful artwork, but if it's not functional— so it has to be functional.

It's very basic.

I mean, I think that's why it's been around for thousands of years.

But Frank Lloyd Wright talked about how architecture has to be functional, and so I love that tie-in between the functionality of Naysan's pottery along with the functionality of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture.

We as a culture, we don't do a great job of understanding the basic concept of what it means to live with handmade beautiful objects every day.

We— and when I was in Japan, I saw it and I realized they do it every day.

They know how to do it and it's beautiful.

But I love that Naysan chose to bring in these huge really organically shaped, round, circular, oblong, and the designs on them are very circular.

You know, where the Westcott is very linear, you know, it looks like the plains.

You know, you got these things coming out and very square, and Naysan brought in all of thi circular pottery.

So I think that's why it was such a beautiful exhibition in there, was because of that contrast of organic shapes.

So I don't sign my pottery.

I use a stamp that says Miami Valley Pottery because it's not about me necessarily.

It's not about me as a personality in the scheme of things.

When you think about the history, I want my work to be used, and I want it to be used for generations, obviously.

But I'm just one potter from generations and thousands of years of potters.

The art of giclee on the next round of “Applause” What is giclee, you say?

We meet an Akron artist who specializes in this high-quality printmaking style.

Then we find out what it was at the Kent Opera House.

And a Columbus crooner shares this love song for a friend.

All that and more on the next round of “Applause” Good morning beautiful.

Oh, did you sleep last night?

You were probably smoking cigarettes.

I dreamt about our life, so won't you call me in the morning?

Back in 2024, Ideastream launched its 24/7 full-time jazz radio service, JazzNEO.

And now JazzNEO has a new band leader who joins me now, Max Ramirez.

Welcome, Max.

Thanks for being here.

It's a pleasure to be with you.

Yeah.

Now tell me, what drew you to jazz?

What sparked your interest?

You know, ever since I was a kid, I grew up out west in Los Angeles, and I remember going to lots of different types of jazz events.

I mean, this varied from the Hollywood Bowl to the Baked Potato in Studio City.

And although nobody was specifically a jazz head, so to speak, in my family, I found that I was really drawn to the art form.

It really started with some of the people who were famous in that day, off the GRP record label to be specific, and then eventually finding really where the spirit of jazz came from and looking at guys like Miles, Monk, Mingus, and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as John Coltrane, and then eventually finding Miles Davis and all of his great improvisation and progression in the art form.

Interesting, interesting.

So GRP, West Coast jazz, that's kind of where you started.

Now you guys just cover everything jazz-related on JazzNEO, don't you?

JazzNEO is great because it's a reflection and has the potential to be a reflection of the diversity of jazz that is Cleveland.

If you look at all of the great players in Cleveland, they have a certain sonic range, and I really like that.

Now we want to stay true to the spirit of jazz, so you're always going to feel and hear that on JazzNEO.

Specifically, you're going to hear the greats.

Like John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

I think specifically though, we're going to add a little bit more to our sonic blend, and I think you'll be pleased in a few months that we're going to be doing that.

Very cool, very cool.

Now, since you've been here, what are some of the community events or jazz hotspots that you've been able to visit?

So I've been at the Bop Stop.

I've gone to the Velvet Tango Room and heard a trio play there I've heard lots of different bands and just pickup bands here in the street, In Cleveland.

And I have to say I'm highly impressed.

Cleveland does have sort of its own sonic signature.

It was a stop for all of these jazz artists as they were touring, a major stop.

What are you thinking about as far as looking forward the future of JazzNEO?

What are some things you'd like to incorporate?

You kind of touched on that, but maybe some of the bigger things you can preview for us.

Well, one thing is we want to double down on our locality.

And that means what's going on in the local jazz ecosystem, as I like to call it.

Who's playing what?

What clubs are doing what?

We want to reflect that diversity in jazz here in the Cleveland area.

So you might hear some things like the GRP Big Band, and you might hear us double down on things like John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, and as we talked about, the era of Miles Davis.

That remains to be seen, but you're going to hear probably all 3 different Miles.

Interesting, interesting.

As far as this area versus the other places— well, you, of course, you're from the West Coast.

I know you were in Illinois for a long time.

How is Cleveland the city, not so much jazz-wise, but just in general the city, how are you finding it to be different, maybe even better?

You know, I have to say I was highly impressed that this was this glistening, you know, city by the lakeside.

And a lot of people associate that with Chicago, but I think Cleveland is a great kept secret.

It's got a lot of diversity, it's got a lot of culture, and it has some great food, and I've been really impressed so far.

And here in our building, of course, we have many spaces for performance and that sort of thing.

Any thoughts towards bringing in more live performers, maybe for something to do with JazzNEO?

I think the folks that listen to JazzNEO are going to be really, really pleased in the coming months and year, and you're going to see an increase in not only those who are performing within the local region but also within the region of Northeast Ohio.

Very cool, very cool.

So tell people, how can they experience JazzNEO?

If you'd like to listen to JazzNEO, you can stream us online at ideastream.org, or you can listen to us on your FM radio at 89.3.

Very cool.

All right, well, now since you're here and you're the jazz expert, the jazz DJ, I'm going to let you tell us who's going to play us out.

Thanks.

One of the top jazz festivals in the country happens right outside of our Idea Center doors each summer with the Tri-C JazzFest at Playhouse Square.

As we sign off, here's a young band making its Tri-C JazzFest debut, Black Voltron, led by Cleveland Arts Prize winner Robin “Hyperius” Blake.

Production of “Applause” on Ideastream Public Media is made possible by funding by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.