Scene Cleveland Music Awards 2006

Welcome to Bangkok offers blazing hard rock that could serve as the soundtrack for a biker bar in hell. The band crams tunes full of greasy classic-rock riffs and adds an endless barrage of scorching solos for good measure. Sonic Swirl Records will release its debut later this year.

Barely a year old, Years of Fire is already lighting up the local metal scene. The quintet sounds as if it's on a mission to recover the thunder stolen from American metal by Scandinavians and math geeks. Thorp Records will release the quintet's debut, Visceral Departure, on August 8. -- Matt Gorey

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Best Goth/ Industrial
Composed of former members of Shenoah, In Winter creates a wall of sound impressively thick with harmony. Vocalist Kara Hill leads each song with a sultry voice that makes being tortured sound hot. In the wake of the release of its album, Murmur, the band has split with keyboardist Doug Bjornholm, but continues making potent goth anthems.

Disown is an industrial-gothic gem, a band so tight it can open for the likes of Orgy and HIM, then turn around and cover a Depeche Mode song. Currently entrenched in its "Disown the Nation" tour, the group melds urgent vocals with no-hope guitar riffs.

Keratoma is the new face of the industrial music scene. Chunky guitar riffs accompany brutal vocals spat from the mouth of the imposing Christopher Simmons between swigs from a bottle of whiskey. No wonder these guys opened for Lamb of God.

Jonny Sayre had his time in the majors with Erase the Grey, which was briefly on Universal. Now he finds himself belching out razor blades in VentanA, a fierce combination of nü-metal and industrial. The group also features Mushroomhead DJ Rick "Stitch" Thomas and Dope's Dan Fox, making it clear that this is nothing short of a supergroup. -- Matt Chernus

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Best Jazz
He may be the last of a dying breed, but get it straight: Jack Schantz is no anachronism. A trumpeter who played with some of the best swing-era orchestras, Schantz serves as musical director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. His mini-big band, the Jack Schantz Jazz Unit, offers creative, engaging compositions in the vein of Wayne Shorter and Thad Jones.

One of the most active players in Ohio, pianist Joe Hunter does it all, from the cool school to the early avant-garde, from swing to fusion to Brazilian. Following in the hepcat shoes of Nat "King" Cole, Hunter's genial, easygoing takes on standards have appeal beyond his loyal jazz audience.

The surging tenor sax of Ernie Krivda has graced songs by Quincy Jones, the O'Jays, and Ohio cult rocker the Human Switchboard. Since the early '90s, he's been leading the Fat Tuesday Big Band and keeping alive the inspirational flames of Count Basie and Eddie Sauter.

Since before "world beat" became a marketing term, Roberto Ocasio's Latin Jazz Project has been playing jazz, funk, and Latin for enthused crowds. While guitarist Roberto Ocasio died in 2004, his eclectic, driven spirit still pilots the Project that bears his name.

The Up Ensemble, a local threesome (Chris Burge, tenor; Beau Lisy, drums; Matt Charboneau, bass) not only upholds the "sax trio," a jazz institution, but bridges eras and styles of jazz and pop, from Irving Berlin to the Beatles. -- Mark Keresman

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Best Blues
Sam Getz Band: Young upstart guitarslingers keep the world of blues-rock spinning. Sam Getz is the area's most recent gift to the pantheon. Hitting bandstands since his peers were hitting Little League grounders, Getz has gone yard at area blues clubs and on regional festival stages.

Mary Bridget Davies Band: In the post-Norah Jones universe, jazzy divas thrive. Channeling Janis Joplin to the satisfaction of the departed blues mama's old band and to patrons of the play Love, Janis, Davies hints at an unlimited range. She's one good producer away from chart success.

Colin Dussault's Blues Project: It's hardly fair to compare the work habits of blues survivor Colin Dussault with those of other musicians. First making it to the stage at the end of the '70s, the burly Lakewood-bred harmonica ace has barely stopped since. While a blues band at its core, the CDBP can please a crowd of any persuasion.

Walkin' Cane: The hardest lesson for aspiring blues artists is finding one's own identity. Hard for some -- but apparently not for Austin Charanghat, also known as Walkin' Cane. Live and on disc, the West Side guitarist-vocalist-composer has covered blues from the Delta to Chicago, with stops in Memphis, all the while sounding like his own big-bellowed self.

Acme Blues Rockets: In the blues lexicon, "bar band" is by no means disparaging. Festivals are fine, but it's in sweaty, steamy bars that the blues makes its home. The blue-collar sound of the Acme Blues Rockets, highlighted by searing slide guitar courtesy of Sonny Williams, evokes just-cashed-the-paycheck Friday nights. -- Duane Verh