Free Concert: Listen to Jazz Mindfully

A free Jazz concert in Downtown by Cleveland-based trumpeter and composer Tommy Lehman is a chance to try a simple way to listen more closely.

Tommy Lehman is a Cleveland-based trumpeter and composer. His modern jazz is known for unusual emotional openness, bringing vulnerability, loneliness, and resilience into the same space: deeply personal and honest, but never defeated.

Why we need mindful listening?
Music is built on repeating patterns, allowing us to consciously predict what comes next. When we actively compare our predictions to what actually plays, we engage our brain's predictive processing. Whether our guess lands perfectly, or the music introduces intentional offsets—like syncopation (rhythmic surprises) or unexpected notes in jazz—this process of testing expectations against reality is exactly what creates the pleasure of listening.

During the performance, try Focused mindful listening. The anchor is not a meditation posture; it is the current sound. Use this simple loop:

1. Catch a pattern.
2. Make a prediction about what comes next.
3. Listen for what happens.
4. When your attention wanders, return to the current sound, catch a pattern, and make a prediction again.

No musical training or mindfulness background is required.