5 D.C. jazz picks for November 2025
It’s hard to believe the end of the year is approaching so rapidly. A lot has happened to us folks in the DMV since January 20, so I hope you’re staying strong and as well as you can in such tempestuous times.
As is typical for this time of year, the D.C. jazz scene’s expatriates begin filtering back into the city as the holidays approach. One such favorite son, Braxton Cook, is back for his second consecutive November date at Songbyrd Music House on Nov. 13, helping celebrate the venue’s 10th anniversary. And, after crisscrossing the states and the world this year, the Messthetics are back in the city right after Thanksgiving for a special presentation with Brooklyn-bandmates James Brandon Lewis: a front-to-back cover of avant-garde guitarist Sonny Sharrock’s final album, 1991’s Ask the Ages on Nov. 28 with Janel Leppin opening.
Blues Alley will also host a run of shows during Thanksgiving week that will remind us all to be grateful of the talent in the D.C. jazz scene. First, on Nov. 23 Reginald Cyntje performs the music of his new album Mosaic, which he released earlier this year with some familiar faces like saxophonist Brian Settles, pianist Allyn Johnson, bassist Herman Burney and drummer Lenny Robinson. On Monday Nov. 24, Dante’ Pope — who has fully returned to the D.C. jazz scene after some years touring with Old Crow Medicine Show — will make his debut as a solo artist at the Georgetown club. A third heavy hitter from that week is featured in the five picks below.
Earlier in the month there are a couple other touring treats for the scene. Pyrotechnical John Coltrane-meets-modern R&B and funk saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin takes the stage at UMD’s Clarice Performing Arts Center on Nov. 7 for another show in their solid fall presentation lineup. Then, the Bad Plus return in their evolved bass-drums-guitar-sax quartet form to The Hamilton Live on Nov. 9.
Also an important couple notes of housekeeping. After running the calendar for the last 10 years, I am passing the torch to the capable hands of our new listings editor Tait Manning, who will be the main force behind getting listings up each month. Also, for those still not in the know, we retired the google form we had been using since COVID. If you want to submit a show to be listed, you can find that new form here.
Finally, CapitalBop is gearing up for another of our annual end-of-year album roundups. If you’re a DMV-based artist who released an album this year, please let us know via this Google form. Thanks for your contribution to the scene!
For all other show needs, consult the full D.C. jazz calendar.
HERBIE HANCOCK
Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
The Music Center at Strathmore (tickets)
[view on calendar]
Herbie Hancock has helped to shape many of jazz’s machinations in the past 50 years. By his early 20s, Hancock was recording definitive hard-bop albums for Blue Note Records; soon after, he was a sideman in Miles Davis’ second great quintet, which exploded the rhythmic and harmonic barriers of mainstream jazz. By the 1970s, Hancock was on the forefront of jazz-funk fusion, and he created one of the most successful albums that the genre would ever know: Head Hunters. The list of his achievements runs on and on. The best way to experience the Grammy-decorated legend is to sit in the audience and let his music wash over you, live and in the flesh.
Hancock makes what has become an annual trek back to D.C., here performing at Strathmore alongside his now-regular band of trumpeter Terence Blanchard, bassist James Genus, guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke and drummer Jaylen Petinaud.
SIMONE BARON AND ARCO BELO
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 8 p.m.
Salonhouse (tickets)
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“occupy our dreamscapes! “resist oppressive specificity! free the space on the margins!”
Those three lines from Simone Baron’s “ruin manifesto” provide some insight into the strikingly unique sound of her chamber ensemble, Arco Belo. The format of the group is a blend of traditional Western classical piano quartet with a jazz combo, but more unusual still is Baron’s refusal to compromise either the structures of classical composition or the personality-driven dynamism of jazz and improvised music.
Baron brings Arco Belo back to D.C. after a short hiatus, performing here at Salonhouse, an intimate house-concert venue presented by Whatsupdc.
SAMARA JOY
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 8 p.m.
The Warner Theater (tickets)
[view on calendar]
Vocalist Samara Joy won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal competition back in 2019 and started touring in 2020, favoring standards. She became a favorite among jazz fans won over by her deep contralto voice and her wise-beyond-her-years approach to the jazz songbook.
She skyrocketed to wider renown in 2023, when she won the Grammy for Best New Artist. For some, Joy’s win was their first introduction to the wide world of jazz.
Joy — who turns 26 the day before this performance at D.C.’s Warner Theater — is only at the beginning of what will likely be a long and storied career.
PJ MORTON
Monday Nov. 17, 8 p.m.
Howard Theater (tickets)
[view on calendar]
New Orleans’ PJ Morton has one of the most singular resumes in music today. He wrote songs for India.Arie, played keyboards with pop rock band Maroon 5 and is responsible for some of the most moving, sumptuous soul, R&B and gospel music of the last decade. His performances always bring forth the life-affirming, victorious nature of gospel, even when crooning love songs.
NASAR ABADEY AND SUPERNOVA
Tuesday Nov. 25, 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Blues Alley (tickets)
[view on calendar]
Few musicians in D.C. — a town full of great jazz players — command as much respect or presence on the bandstand as Nasar Abadey. The master percussionist and drummer leads his own group, Supernova, through quietly bristling spiritual jazz, but can also be found co-leading the Washington Renaissance Orchestra with Allyn Johnson, or playing behind fellow elders like Andrew White and Steve Novosel.
Here, Abadey returns to Blues Alley with his band Supernova, which has over the decades, become akin to a D.C. version of the Jazz Messengers. This performance’s iteration will feature saxophonist Justin Mendez, trumpeter Josh Evans, pianist Allyn Johnson and bassist James King.
Some text based on previous calendar listings by Giovanni Russonello and Jamie Sandel. Some listings coincide with advertisements on capitalbop.com; CapitalBop Magazine maintains full editorial independence and never takes input from advertisers for pick consideration.
DC, DC jazz, jazz, Washington
