5 D.C. jazz picks for November 2026

Before I get into the shows, I want to make one plea to civic duty: if you haven’t already, please go out and vote. Find your polling place, and make a plan.

Once you’ve done so, celebrate with some of the great music that D.C.’s scene has on offer this month.

Plenty of exciting out-of-towners will stop by the District this month during nationwide tours. For those craving more traditional fare, head on Nov. 7 to Fort Washington, Md.’s Harmony Hall Arts Center where drummer, vibraphonist and youngest scion of the Marsalis family, Jason Marsalis, brings a quartet featuring phenom vocalist Vanisha Gould. Later, vocal jazz great Gregory Porter returns on Nov. 16 to the District, anchoring a fundraiser for the DC Jazz Festival at The Anthem. For the more adventurous side of the music, visit Rhizome on Nov. 21 where the always inventive New York bassist Stephan Crump brings his new Passerine quartet — featuring Ches Smith on drums, Kenny Warren on trumpet and David Leon on alto flute and saxophone — in celebration of the band’s debut album.

For local offerings, trumpeter Brandon Woody on Nov. 1 anchors this month’s WPFW 50th anniversary benefit concert at the Palisades Hub (his concert will be preceded by a film screening). There’s also a strong line-up at Takoma Station on Saturdays this month, featuring a run of three of the best saxophonists in the region: brash and meditative tenorist Elijah Easton on Nov. 14; swinging baritone maestra Leigh Pilzer with her organ quintet Nov. 21; and lush and sophisticated tenorist Lyle Link Nov. 28. Elsewhere, the legendary longtime curator of Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Jazz Night” and veteran vocalist Dick Smith returns to the church on Nov. 20 to celebrate the release of his new album Some Rise, his first in decades. 

Finally, in a treat to kick off the holiday season, the Messthetics on Nov. 27 bring frequent collaborator James Brandon Lewis back to The Hamilton for a post-Thanksgiving show.

As it is a month of thanksgiving, I want to say I am thankful for all of you reading this, thankful for the community we’re all helping build at CapitalBop and thankful for the D.C. jazz scene, which continues to make this city one of the most musically interesting and engaging in the world.

For all other jazz needs, please consult the D.C. jazz calendar.

JANEL LEPPIN’S ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Rhizome (tickets)
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Janel Leppin is one of the District’s finest bandleaders, harnessing a nuanced sensibility in both her compositions and improvisations to produce restless, complex sonic textures that range from lush and beautiful to sharp and arresting. She’s joined here by her Ensemble Volcanic Ash, an arrangement of some of the best improvisers in D.C.: guitarist Anthony Pirog, tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Larry Ferguson. The group’s music ranges from lush soundscapes indebted to Alice Coltrane to frenetic, experimental anthems in the vein of Abdul Wadud.

Here they perform music from their March 2026 album Pluto in Aquarius. 

SEQUOIA “REDWOOD” SYNDER & INNER KNOWING

Friday, Nov. 13, 12:30 p.m.
Devine Theater at Georgetown University (tickets)
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Sequoia “REDWOOD” Snyder’s star is ascendant. A D.C. native and graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Snyder earned her stripes and degrees studying under the likes of Rodney Whitaker at Michigan State University as well as Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jason Moran. Now, she is settling into life as a full-time artist, including spots this year the Detroit Jazz Festival and joining the ranks of Terri Lynn Carrington’s “Next Jazz Legacy” cohort for 2026.

She has a broad musical palette, as comfortable swinging standards as she is reconfiguring hip-hop classics into pensive musical journeys.

Here, REDWOOD celebrates the release of her new EP Inner Knowing with a free concert presented as part of Georgetown University’s Friday Music Series.

ORRIN EVANS TRIO

Thursday, Nov. 12 and Friday, Nov. 13, 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Blues Alley (tickets)
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Orrin Evans was always known as a monster pianist in his native Philadelphia and up-and-down the east coast, leading a variety of groups including the Captain Black Big Band, where you could be as likely to hear cascading, symphonic jazz as David Bowie covers. He reached a new level of respect and recognition as pianist in The Bad Plus, replacing founding member Ethan Iverson until leaving the group in 2021.

Evans’ own touch on the piano is full of surprises; while he never swerves into full atonality, his brand of post-bop veers in and out of old-school, lush harmony and fiercely restless, searching melodic development.

He leads his working trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr.

TERENCE BLANCHARD & RAVI COLTRANE: MILES & TRANE CENTENNIAL

Saturday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m.
The Music Center at Strathmore (tickets)
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NEA Jazz Master trumpeter Terence Blanchard has been a force on the contemporary jazz scene for over three decades. He got his start as a student in the early ‘80s touring with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and later launched his career as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he served as music director until 1986. Blanchard has since gained recognition for his orchestral compositions and film scoring, most notably his work with director Spike Lee, as well as his operatic works.

Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, son of jazz legends John and Alice Coltrane, made a name for himself playing gigs on the Los Angeles scene before moving to New York City and apprenticing with Elvin Jones. He played extensively as a sideman before releasing his 1998 debut album, Moving Pictures. His style pulls influence from his father’s work, while adding a contemporary flair to post-bop traditions.

The duo lead an ensemble in a tribute to  the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

THE BLACKBYRDS

Saturday, Nov. 28, 8 p.m.
Bethesda Theater (tickets) 
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The brainchild of music professor and prolific jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, The Blackbyrds was formed in the 1970s by a group of students at Howard University, named after Byrd’s 1973 album Blackbyrd, a dynamic fusion of jazz, funk and Motown soul.

Proteges of Byrd’s jazz-soul tradition, the group blended elements of classical, blues, gospel and jazz with more contemporary funk sounds. The group is known for its danceable, rhythmic grooves on tracks like “Do It, Fluid,” as well as catchy call and response chants backed by funky instrumentals.

Drummer Keith Killgo leads the band today, one of two original members still in the group, alongside bassist Joe Hall. Here, the band’s modern iteration visits the staid Bethesda Theater to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their timeless local anthem, “Rock Creek Park.”