Felix Pastorius Trio
Felix Pastorius Trio is a newly formed group featuring Thommy Knoles on the keyboards and Kurt Stracener on drums. Seamlessly blending a variety of styles and sounds, each performance is a testament to their dedication to pushing musical boundaries through intense improvisation. The trio draws inspiration from both the roots of jazz and innovations of modern electronic music, resulting in a truly unique sound that transcends genres and gets to the core of musical passion.
Chris Bittner w/ Zac Covington, Charlton Provatas, & Eli Wittmann
Chris Bittner is a saxophonist and composer based in New York City. Originally from North Carolina, Bittner has performed with groups all over the east coast, in styles ranging from jazz to R&B, folk, gospel, and country. Bittner has performed in some of New York City’s most well known jazz clubs such as Fat Cat (now Cellar Dog), Dizzy’s Club, Smalls, Blue Note Jazz Club, Ornithology, The AMAN, Zinc Bar, and many more. He has also performed internationally with his quartet at the Bern Jazz Festival in Bern, Switzerland, as well as Los Cabos in Mexico and Mullsjö, Sweden. A recent Juilliard graduate, he has had the opportunity to play alongside and learn from jazz greats such as Jimmy Heath, Bill Charlap, Herlin Riley, Jon Faddis, Rodney Whitaker, Etienne Charles, Aaron Diehl, Donny McCaslin, and many more. He is currently working on composing new material to perform with his own quartet and is busy with numerous other projects.
Vibeat
Since its inception in 2018, VIBEAT has performed throughout the south east at venues including the legendary Churchill’s Pub (2019), Art Basel festival (2019), The Citadel, The Norton Art Museum (August 2022), the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival (2018), Rudy’s Jazz Room (2019), Lagniappe House (2019-2022) and have been featured artists with the SoFar Sounds concert series. While the band has evolved over the years, the music and mission have always remained the same: to groove hard, take improvisational risks like the jazz greats always have, and to make sure the audience is having an AMAZING experience. In 2019 we self released our first album “VIBEATEP”, recorded in Miami, FL. Currently we are in the process of recording our second studio album entitled “Ready to Die” inspired by the legendary Biggie Smalls. While the band is rooted in traditional jazz, we continually try to break the barriers between jazz music and Hip Hop, bringing audiences something they can groove to, while still enjoying the improvisatory approach we take to our music.
Real Life Quartet
Unheard Project GSO
FREE Fathers Day show with Dan Davis Trio
Come spend the afternoon with The Dan Davis Trio! The bar opens at 12pm and the music starts at 2pm!
Jazz Is Led
Jazz Is Led. The name says it all. The groundbreaking music of Led Zeppelin, reimagined with an entirely new approach; Jazz, Funk, Rock, Instrumental.Founded by Charlotte Drummer/Jazz composer, Curtis Wingfield, Jazz Is Led is mesmerizing audiences with its broad crossover appeal. With a wide range of styles, textures, and dynamics (just as Led Zeppelin had) these new takes on old favorites range from high energy, deep funk, Latin, and swing grooves to the most delicate ballads and dirty slow blues. Led Zeppelin‘s improvisational approach at their live shows is well documented, and, Jazz Is Led honors this in great supply with each show being a unique experience for the band and audience.
Bobby Sparks w/ Karen Briggs
EIGHTEEN time Grammy Award Winning, Corsicana, Texas born SPARKCHILD, Bobby Sparks II, is a multi-talented artist, musician, and producer who boasts a long list of career accomplishments. Having recorded and traveled the world with Prince, Tower of Power, Snarky Puppy, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, Nelly Furtado, Marcus Miller, Kirk Franklin, St. Vincent and a host of other notable artists and celebrities, his influence on music and personalities is far reaching.“Bobby Ray Sparks II brings a compelling style of story telling and lyrical clarity to the organ that inspires me to create more spaces for him.” -Lizz Wright“Bobby Sparks is one of the greatest [musicians] of this era,” -Don Was (President of Blue Note Records)******Karen Briggs is an American violinist. Briggs joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra while still in college, but grew discontented with performing classical music and left the orchestra after four years. Since then, she has performed predominantly in the jazz and contemporary instrumental genres.Best known for spending thirteen years on tour with contemporary instrumental musician Yanni, Briggs received the “Lady in Red” moniker while featuring as a soloist on Yanni’s Live at the Acropolis tour. After parting with Yanni in 2004, she toured with other groups including the short-lived jazz fusion group Vertú. Briggs has performed at such locations as Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has performed or collaborated with Dave Grusin, Diana Ross, the Wu Tang Clan, En Vogue, and Chaka Khan.
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra w/ Elora Dash
You’ve heard this before, but the whimsically named Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is really tough to describe. Veering from in-your-face, jaw dropping chops and passion, to those quiet moments when the background noise disappears and you hold your breath to take in a soundscape of solitude, the power trio of electric bass(E’Lon JD), drums (Maison Guidry), and steel pans (Jonathan Scales) combines elements of jazz, classical, and progressive rock, peppered with Latin rhythms and soulful outbursts of funk. From club and festival stages across North America and Europe, and tours of Africa, Southeast and Central Asia as a Cultural Ambassador for the US Department of State, to their NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Béla Fleck, the Fourchestra’s live shows make even the most jaded listeners forget where they are… even if just for a precious moment.This may seem an odd thing to say, but on the verge of releasing their eighth studio recording, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is only now truly embracing their identity as a group. For many years, Jonathan’s live band was a fluid lineup of top-notch musicians, and even included an “all-star” version with bassist MonoNeon (Prince, Nas), drummer Sput Searight (Snarky Puppy, Snoop Dogg)and percussionist Weedie Braimah (Trombone Shorty, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah), as well as a number of other marquee players. Now, however, the Fourchestra is a decidedly indivisible band, and Jonathan is writing for the trio, not just the pans.w/ Elora Dash: Blending elements of contemporary R&B, classic soul, and jazz fusion, Elora Dash is an exciting up-and-coming artist from Chapel Hill, NC. Elora is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who is breaking into the regional neo-soul scene.
Unheard Project
Unheard Project GSO, a 20+ member collective of some of the Piedmont Triad’s best musicians, was born out of hundreds of hours of practice and gigging together in the bourgeoning Greensboro scene. While many of the members are graduates of UNCG’s acclaimed Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program, the collective incorporates in-demand players from diverse genres to form a powerhouse of both original and familiar musical stylings.
