Blog -

News

A new vocal jazz concert series arrives in Capitol Hill every month

A seasoned accompanist of jazz singers is launching a new, monthly series of vocal jazz in Capitol Hill. Pianist Chris Grasso is curating a different prominent area vocalist to appear at Mr. Henry’s (6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. SE) on the third Friday of each month. Kicking off the series this Friday is vocalist Lena […]

February 19, 2020 0

Interviews

Melissa Aldana has burgeoning ‘Visions’ for her quartet

Melissa Aldana’s 2019 album Visions represents a new horizon for the tenor saxophonist. The 31-year-old, winner of the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, had been best known up until then for her ferocious, lean playing in trios, especially her Crash Trio with fellow Chilean Pablo Menares on bass and Cuban drummer Francisco Mela. Growing […]

February 13, 2020 0

News

Columbia Station closes longtime location; music programming moves next door

Without much fanfare, or apparently much prelude, Columbia Station closed last week. The Adams Morgan restaurant and bar hosted jazz in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years, and provided weekly gigs for many cherished artists, including the late, great Butch Warren. Its jam sessions, presided over by pianist Peter Edelman, have been as popular as […]

February 12, 2020 0

Interviews

Ahmad Jamal on having a ‘spiritual anchor,’ remembering Jimmy Heath and the world beyond the piano

Ahmad Jamal first sat down at a piano at the age of 3; was playing Liszt and Ellington by age 11; joined the local musicians union in Pittsburgh at age 14; and went on to have an eight-decade career as a musician of the highest caliber. Even after all of that, he would be the […]

February 7, 2020 0

The Month in Shows

5 jazz picks for February in D.C.

You can celebrate Valentine’s Day with jazz at many shows next week — including CapitalBop’s presentation of trumpeter Marquis Hill and his new Love Tape project. Other good options include bluesy, swinging crooner Aaron Myers’ takeover of JoJo Restaurant on Feb. 14 and the iconic neo-soul belter Bilal, who plays the Kennedy Center’s Studio K […]

February 6, 2020 0

Announcing...

This Sunday at the DC Jazz Loft: Experimental guitarist Sandy Ewen and swinging sax stalwart Gabe Wallace

The DC Jazz Loft is a home for all forms of creative improvised music, and there’s no better example of that than this month’s concert: back-to-back sets featuring experimental guitarist and multimedia artist Sandy Ewen and jazz saxophonist Gabe Wallace. As always, the loft starts at 7pm at Rhizome DC, just off the Red Line […]

February 6, 2020 0

Announcing...

Our special Valentine’s Day presentation of Marquis Hill’s ‘Love Tape’

Musicians like to talk about love, and in jazz it’s no exception. Whether your favorite artists play music with text or just instrumentals, chances are you’ve heard them express their thoughts on that all-encompassing human emotion. And more often than not, those thoughts are expressed simply: “Listen to me” and its corollary, “I love you.” […]

January 29, 2020 0

Interviews

‘Every time something happened I found myself at the piano’: Elijah Jamal Balbed takes ‘Karma Suite’ to Kennedy Center

When Elijah Jamal Balbed premiered the “The Karma Suite,” his first long-form composition, at the final Union Arts D.C. Jazz Loft in 2016, it was an incredible moment of catharsis for the saxophonist. Writing the suite broke a months-long writer’s block that weighed on the D.C. native since the release of his 2015 album Lessons […]

January 22, 2020 0

Announcing...

Announcing the 5th Jazz and Freedom Festival, an all-day musical celebration benefiting ICE OUT OF DC

The 5th Jazz and Freedom Festival An MLK weekend celebration of live music, learning and activism, presented by CapitalBop, Shannon Gunn and Eaton DC Featuring Todd Marcus, Cristian Perez, Angel Bethea, the Jazz and Freedom Octet, and poet/community advocate Claudia Rojas Sunday, Jan. 19, 2019 3 p.m. doors 3:30 Panel Discussion 4:30-9:15 Five sets of […]

January 6, 2020 0

The Month in Shows

5 jazz picks for January in D.C.

Happy New Year! Lots of great music is happening in the District in the third decade of the millennium, and CapitalBop officially celebrates its 10-year anniversary later this year. We’re looking forward to telling you all about that later — but there’s plenty of great jazz and improvised music to catch right now. In recent […]

January 2, 2020 0