Greyt Big Talk w/ Theron Brown
Cleveland's Breakfast Lecture Series for the Creative Community. #GREYTBIGTALK
Watching
Theron Brown | Greyt Big Talk
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Popular interests
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Theron Brown
Jazz pianist and bandleader
Theron Brown is a jazz pianist, bandleader and educator whose sound draws on the gospel, jazz and soul of the great legends, and who plays to encourage and uplift people. Based in Akron, he founded the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival, held each year in the city's downtown historic district, and he performs regularly at jazz clubs and theaters across Northeast Ohio, with a career that has reached audiences from New York to Tokyo. He has also worked as artist coordinator for Curated Storefront and as artist director at the I Promise School.
In 2016 he appeared as a young Herbie Hancock in Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle's film about Miles Davis. He released his debut album, No Concepts, in 2019. His latest, Mr. Magnetic, came out in November 2025: co-produced with James Adams and recorded for Dolby Atmos spatial audio, it features Jon Lampley on trumpet, Chris Coles on saxophone, James Johnson III on drums and Jonathon Muir-Cotton on bass, and celebrates the Akron musicians and institutions around him.
He played and spoke at Greyt Big Talk in January 2022 at Forest City Brewery.
Greyt Quote
“How you get up and speak to one another sets the tone of the day”
Designed by Studio Chartreuse
Playlist
Location
Forest City Brewery
2135 Columbus Rd, Cleveland, OH, 44113
Forest City Brewery is an old-school microbrewery in a historic building about 100 years old, in the Duck Island neighborhood between Tremont and Ohio City, near the West Side Market. It brews handcrafted European-style beers, served in its historic brew pub and in a large outdoor beer garden. The brewery's event spaces include the Waldorf Beer Hall, the Clubhouse and the full brewery, for groups of up to 250. Greyt Big Talk met here in January 2022 for Theron Brown's talk, and Songs for the Season played the brewery in December 2022 before moving into the Waldorf Beer Hall in 2024 and 2025.
About this event
GREYT BIG TALK is a breakfast lecture series for the creative community taking place in pop-up locations on the third Friday of every month in Cleveland. Each event features: • local culinary artisan breakfast and coffee, • live music performances • original art by local designers • startup pitches for anything our community is making • a short talk from a successful creative person • all filmed to share with our community online. (interested in a feature, artisan maker space, company recruiting tabletop space, or other placement within the program? email us at omg@thatsgreyt.com)
Since our founding in January of 2015, we’ve hosted nearly 10,000 attendees in pop-up locations all over the city of Cleveland.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Theron Brown. A glimpse of gospel, jazz, and soul from the great legends is what inspires the sound of pianist Theron Brown’s music. But the reason he plays is to encourage and influence people through his talents. Born and raised in Zanesville, Ohio, Theron currently resides in Akron, Ohio, where he is the artist coordinator for Curated Storefront, artist director at I Promise School, and the founder and artistic director of the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival which takes place annually in Akron, Ohio’s downtown historic district. You can see him regularly performing at many jazz clubs and theaters in northeast Ohio. Theron is immensely involved in promoting the arts scene in Ohio.
Theron received an amazing opportunity as he auditioned for and was cast as young Herbie Hancock in the 2016 released film about Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle. In 2019, Theron released his debut album, No Concepts. Theron is currently working on his second album titled “Spirit Fruit”, which reflects on essential and fundamental characteristics that bring positive vibes to peoples lives. This was inspired by Galatians 5:22-23.