Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Noa Chait Quintet! Noa Chait - Vocals Tito Carrillo - Trumpet Andy Langham - Piano Ryan Hagler - Bass Daniel Dufour - Drums With roots in Cape Town and Tel Aviv, vocalist and bandleader Noa Chait has been one to watch on the New York Jazz scene. Having grown up musically in the traditions of Jazz and Pop musics, Noa is an alumni of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary music, having received the Alice and John Coltrane Award of Excellence, and has studied with luminaries such as Jazzmeia Horn, Sachal Vasandani, and Mike LeDonne. She has shared the stage with some of the top musicians in jazz today including Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, Alexander Claffy, Michael Kanan, Willie Jones III and Benny Benack III. With a focus on the Great American Songbook, and storytelling through song, Noa preforms both on intimate and larger stages all over New York City’s decorated Jazz scene and has brought her quartet overseas to Bern International Jazz Fest. She is currently working on her debut record.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Andre Hayward Quintet! Andre Hayward - Trombone Dan Thomas - Tenor Saxophone Ryan Howard - Piano Sam Pankey - Bass Danny Sanchez - Drums Andre Hayward is a trombone player based in Austin, Texas. His sound and clarity are reminiscent of the late J.J. Johnson. Born in Houston in 1973, Hayward’s first exposure to music was through his parents, Melvin and Barbara Hayward. He began playing trombone and tuba at the age of 11. He attended HSPVA, and continued to hone his skills with Houston’s legendary educator Conrad O. Johnson. He has recorded or performed with Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove, Joe Williams, John Lewis, Kirk Whalum, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and many others. Hayward toured as lead trombonist with The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for The Joymakers! Colin Hancock - Cornet/Alto Sax/Baritone Sax/Mellophone/Vocals Freddie Mendoza - Trombone David Jellema - Clarinet/C-Melody Sax/Cornet/Vocals Lauryn Gould - Alto Sax/Tenor Sax/Soprano Sax/Vocals Luke Allen - Vocals Dylan Blackthorn - Accordion Westen Borghesi - Tenor Banjo Shane Dickens -Piano Ryan Gould - Double Bass Ryan Neubauer - Drums Founded by two-time GRAMMY Nominee Colin Hancock, The Joymakers are an Austin-based jazz band specializing in 1920s jazz from Texas and the Southwestern US. The band is all about maximum authenticity with maximum feeling, and you certainly won’t be able to keep your feet still either when you hear them!
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for AJS Presents: Gerry Gibbs and the Aliens! Gerry Gibbs - Drums/Percussion/Voice/Synthesizer Jerry Espinoza - Electric Saxophone Jason Golbraith - EWI/Saxophone/Flute Carter Arrington - Electric Guitar Andy Langham - Fender Rhodes/Synthesizers Terry Bowness - Organ Drummer, composer, filmmaker Gerry Gibbs, has created a new band with the sound of outer space. Gerry Gibbs and the Aliens are a 6 piece group blending jazz, rock, funk, classical and world music funneled through the sounds of cosmic space. Each member of the Aliens brings in 6 different musical concepts from 6 different people approaching music 6 different ways. The band plays live on occasion to their silent film on a big screen behind the band. The Aliens will record their debut CD and album to be released early next year. Gerry Gibbs has had a long history, recording 17 solo albums which garnered five #1 albums on the radio charts for a combined total of 31 weeks total. Two of Gibbs's CD's received 2 GRAMMY nominations. Gerry has recorded, performed and toured with names such as Chick Corea, Ron Carter, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Clarke, Kenny Barron, Larry Goldings, James Moody, Quincy Jones, Woody Shaw, Clark Terry, Alice Coltrane, Patrice Rushen, Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Roy Hargrove, Brad Mehldau, Parliament Funkadelics, Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus, and Thundercat just to name a few. Gerry will record and debut his new band August 2025 at the Birdland Jazz Club in NYC featuring his Thrasher Dream Band featuring Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker and Chris Potter. Look for future dates in a town near you in late 2025 when Gerry Gibbs and the Aliens release their new CD in late 2025. ——— Make a donation to be recognized: Supporter Level: Donate $50 or more, and we'll mention your name as a Supporter of the "AJS Presents: Midweek @ Monks" series, as part of the mission to creating more sustaining performance opportunities for Austin jazz musicians! Sponsor Level: Donate $100 or more, you’ll be recognized as a Sponsor of the "AJS Presents: Midweek @ Monks" series.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Alex Claffy Trio feat. Seamus Blake & Daniel Dufour! Alex Claffy - Bass Seamus Blake - Piano Daniel Dufour - Drums At age 30, bassist Alex Claffy has become one of the most in-demand performers of his generation, both as a sideman working with the biggest names in Jazz and Popular music, and also as a bandleader, composer and producer having just released his fourth album as a leader “Music From Big Orange” in late 2022 with another record on the way ft. Michael “Sonny Step” Stephenson in early 2023. Living in New York City but born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Claffy is the next great Jazz artist in his hometown’s storied lineage, following in the footsteps of Philadelphia bass luminaries such as Christian McBride, Percy Heath and Jimmy Garrison. His resumé as a sideman reads as a veritable who’s who of Jazz royalty, ranging from Jazz masters such as George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Randy Brecker, Wallace Roney and Louis Hayes, to the top stars of today such as Nicholas Payton, Christian Adjtunde Adjuah, Seamus Blake and Kurt Rosenwinkel - the latter of which he just debuted with at the legendary Village Vanguard in Summer of 2022. His work in more Pop settings with the likes of trumpet icon Chris Botti, the genre-bending songstress Veronica Swift and breakout Hamilton star vocalist Leslie Odom Jr. prove his versatility as a bassist and musician know no bounds. When he’s not touring the world headlining major Jazz festivals and clubs, Claffy can be found in any of the top venues in New York City’s decorated Jazz scene such as Birdland, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club, SMOKE and Smalls, as well as frequent trips back to Philadelphia, where he is committed to enriching and enlivening his hometown scene as well. In his spare time he’s an avid vinyl collector, has a voracious appetite for podcasts and the greats of stand-up comedy, as well as his dedication to his work as a clinician and teacher, hosting a private studio of bass students as well as adjunct work at his alma mater, the New School of Jazz.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the West Texas Country Music Jamboree! Frank "Kumba" Lacey - Trombone Andre Hayward - Trombone Shelley Carrol - Saxophone Nellie McKay - Vocals & Piano Mellissa Raquel - Vocals Steve Palousek - Steel Guitar Jazz Masters perform from the Great America Country Music Songbook under the direction of Country Music Legend and five-time Grammy Winner Floyd Domino. The Settegast Kid Music Director for Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers and leader of The Charles Mingus Orchestra, five-time Grammy Winner Jazz Artist Frank “Kumba” Lacy is joined by fellow Texans and Stars of The Duke Ellington Orchestra and Jazz At Lincoln Center Shelley Carrol and Andre Hayward along with platinum recording artist Nellie McKay for a night of lovingly curated and orchestrated Country Music Masterpieces by George Jones, Ray Price, Glen Campbell, Hank Williams, Charlie Pride, Gram Parsons, Randy Travis, George Straight and Johnny Cash. Presented by The Houston Jazz Collective and in collaboration with The House of RMC, fashion designers Ricky Hodge, Cathy Mace and Stewart Colgate, The West Texas Music Jamboree is a multi-media Fine Arts presentation. The West Texas Country Music Jamboree will be permanently and professionally preserved and archived.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Adi Meyerson & Dark Matter! Adi Meyerson - Bass Christopher McBride - Alto Saxophone Daniel Dufour - Drums As a bass player and band leader, Adi Meyerson finds herself constantly gravitating towards linear melodies, while always knowing where we are within the sonic and harmonic language. She has released two critically acclaimed albums, “Where We Stand” (2018) and “I Want to Sing My Heart Out in Praise of Life” (2020). Meyerson has played international acclaimed festivals such as BRIC Jazz Fest, Guatemala Jazz Festival, Center City Philidelphia Jazz Fest, and has toured extensively throughout the United States and Central America. In 2020, she was a recipient of the NYFA Women’s Grant. “Dark Matter” is an exploration of the push and pull between free and improvised music to more structured music, with a focus on what’s not written on the page and what ends up being created from the lack of information given; a project that centers on tension and release. The ensemble first came together in 2022, and was a recipient of the Greenwich Music House ‘Uncharted’ Residency/Grant. Since then, Ali Meyerson and Dark Matter have played multiple shows throughout the east and west coast. The recipient of the Chamber Music America 2024 Plus Grant, the group recently recorded their first album, set to be released in 2025.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Julie Slim & RendezVous: C'est Si Bon! An Evening with Henri Betti! Julie Slim - Vocals Shawn Ellison - Piano Shirley Johnson - Accordion Phil Spencer - Double Bass Joe McCreary - Drums Brought to you by Julie Slim & Rendezvous, this show will celebrate French composer, Henri Betti, who is known for his jazz standard C'est Si Bon. Betti was a prolific composer who wrote for musicals and operettas, and cooperated with many well-known artists like Yves Montand, Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier. Join us for an evening of stories, songs and anecdotes around the life and music of this French composer through loving recollections of his grandson, Olivier Betti. A multilingual jazz and world music vocalist originally from Beirut, Lebanon, Julie Slim brings forth the cultural influences that shape her life in her musical project, Julie Slim & RendezVous, which is approaching its 11th year performing in Austin and surrounding cities. With the support and mentorship of Austin iconic pianist, educator and arranger, Dr. James Polk, and the collaboration of stellar jazz musicians and friends over the years, the band has grown from covering French pop and jazz standards to include Arabic and Spanish standards as well as originals - one of which, Sarabande de Solitude (Shawn Ellison/Julie Slim), was awarded an Honorary Merit Award in the 2017 International Songwriting Competition and was featured in the 2017 SXSW Songwriters Showcase. Throughout the last 9 years, Julie Slim has held residencies at the Skylark Lounge, Parker Jazz Club, and most recently at Shore ATX and Plate by Dzintra, where she currently plays as a duo twice a month with pianist Shawn Ellison. Julie began her singing career in the theater world in Allentown, PA in the 1980’s and then in Austin, TX, earning a nomination for a B. Iden Payne award in 1996 for her work in the original children's show, Deep in The Heart of TX (dir. Mary Alice Carnes). In 2001, Julie entered the jazz scene in her work as a vocalist and clinician for the Austin Jazz Workshop, spreading jazz to over 100 elementary schools per academic year, with composers like Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Henri Mancini, George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael and this year, with Harry Warren. Julie believes in the power of music to connect and heal - storytelling from the soul - whether it be as an educator, widening the music world of elementary grade students and enhancing their love of jazz and music with passionate performances of standards by great jazz composers, or by witnessing the comforting power of the raw singing voice at Christopher House, harmonizing with her Threshold Choir sisters on a weekly basis
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Huston Tillotson Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Faculty! The Huston-Tillotson Jazz Orchestra is an 18 piece all undergraduate big band who frequently plays the music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Thad Jones and many other great jazz composers. Under the direction of Dr. Jeremy George, Director of Jazz Studies, this group has performed and place first in the Ronald Carter HBCU Jazz Competition in Nashville, TN and has recently been invited to perform and compete in Norfolk, VA at the Jazz at Lincoln Center HBCU competition host by Wynton Marsalis. This concert will also feature our wonderful Jazz Faculty, Grant Teeple, Sax, Lee Thomason, Trumpet, Andre Hayward, Trombone, Eric Scott Reed, Piano, Dr. Brian Pardo, Guitar, Dr. Jeremy George, Bass, Daniel Dufour, Drums.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Chase Baird Quartet! Chase Baird - Tenor Saxophone Carter Arrington - Guitar Sam Pankey - Bass Adam Jackson - Drums Part experimental rocker, part classical romantic and part hard-bop devotee, saxophonist and composer Chase Baird has been described as "... the future of jazz music and the saxophone" by Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Randy Brecker. His latest album, A Life Between, covers a vast emotional terrain with a band comprised of modern jazz’s most revered innovators. Pianist Brad Mehldau and drummer Antonio Sánchez are veteran companions alongside new-generation talents Nir Felder, guitar, and Dan Chmielinski, bass. Critics have declared the album “…a truly inspired, dare we say, epic recording complete with progressive singularities and sonic cosmicalities.” Chase has worked as a sideman with pop icon Chaka Khan, legendary Chicago vocalist Bill Champlin as well as indie-rocker Jakob Dylan. In the jazz realm, he has performed or recorded with Chris Botti, Brad Mehldau, Antonio Sánchez, Mike Stern, Antonio Faraò, Mike Clark, Victor Wooten, Thana Alexa, Dennis Chambers, Julian Pollack (J3PO), Dan Tepfer, Thomas Dawson, Steve Lyman and others. During 2017 - 2020, Chase performed as an active member of drummer Antonio Sánchez’s band Migration, recording both saxophone and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) on the groups’ acclaimed album Lines In The Sand. He also recorded and toured with multi-generational progressive jazz ensemble Venture, featuring drum legend Mike Clark, multi-instrumentalist Mark Sherman and electric bassist Felix Pastorius. Venture explores hard-bop roots and accents of funk and fusion on their first studio collaboration, Life Cycle, released on Ropeadope Records in May 2018. Chase plays exclusively EWI with all-synthesizer band Circuit Kisser, created by collaborator Dan “Chimy“ Chmielinski. The band’s most recent album, First Kiss, released on La Reserve Records in 2023. When not touring, Chase makes his home in Austin, Texas.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Atlas Maior! Joshua Thomson - Alto Saxophone Joshua Peters - Oud Josh Flowers - Upright Bass Gray Parsons - Drums Atlas Maior creates original music that combines elements of Progressive Jazz, Middle Eastern, Latin, and Indian music traditions. Band members Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone, flutes), Josh Peters (oud, lavta), create a unique sound that balances intimate moments of sincerity with powerful melodies and incendiary rhythmic passages. The group writes original melodies exploring maqamat (Middle Eastern modal system) and harmonic progressions found in American jazz. Atlas Maior composes with a variety of rhythms & instrumentation including Indian tablas, kanjira, & Chinese hulusi. Lauded internationally, Atlas Maior is presenting a culmination of their creative work from 2020-2024 with their very first vinyl release Hadal Deluxe Edition. The new record is due out on June 7th, and will be celebrated at their record release party at The Monks Jazz Club, Austin, TX! Hadal Deluxe Edition vinyl is reflective of Atlas Maior’s highly collaborative nature and features original and cross-cultural collaborative compositions. Reflecting back on a career of musical journeys, Atlas Maior comments, “The group continues to elevate voices, and highlight cultural music traditions within Austin, and abroad that are often marginalized, and underrepresented from the music mainstream. It is our intention to highlight these music and cultural differences with the goal of ourselves learning from them, while also creating something new together.”
L.C. Franke - Vocals Paulo Santos - Saxophone Ross Margitza - Piano Ryan Hagler - Bass JJ Johnson - Drums First Show: Doors at 7:45pm, Show at 8pm. Second Show: Doors at 9:45pm, Show at 10pm. Easy listening for anxious times, torch songs for a world on fire, orchestral pop for the algorithm age: this is the twilit milieu of L.C. Franke, whose debut album Still In Bloom, releasing July 19, builds a bridge between twentieth-century nostalgia and our modern alienation. Across ten tracks of pure mood-indigo music, inspired by the jazz-club savoir faire of artists like Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker, and Ella Fitzgerald, Franke’s barstool croon smolders against a backdrop of woodwind trills and string quartet swells. It’s a musical tonic that pairs equally well with gin and general malaise—light on the ears, heavy on the heart. Still In Bloom is the sound of midlife crisis turned spiritual rebirth. Recorded live in the room with an actual orchestra, and completed over just three weekend sessions, it’s both musically rich and emotionally direct. On “You’re Not Alone,” Franke takes your hand and leads you from a shadowy alley, toward a shimmering skyline that’s swirling with flutes and the simple reassurance, “Worst case / It’ll pass.” The mood takes a slightly more sinister turn on “Wish the World,” a sardonic tango about a soured relationship that’s underscored by spy-movie violins and vibraphone. And the album finds its bruised thematic heart on the title track, “Still In Bloom,” where a pensive piano melody and wintry strings provide the stripped-down bed for Franke’s late-night ruminations on the everyday struggle to find resilience amid the ruins. These are spellbinding, smoke-gets-in-your-eyes songs, rendered as sharp as a custom-cut suit, evoking lonely subway rides past abandoned automats, and those halcyon days before the Brill Building housed a CVS. ------ “Music You Should Know” - Rolling Stone “a cunning crooner and composer. This album had me instantly with its ambitious originality and shrewd songwriting, singing and arrangements” - Jazz Wax “Smoldering, sophisticated jazz-pop” - KUTX “smart lyrics that seek to pierce the heart of darkness” “rich melodicism and sophistication” - No Depression “ a salve of nostalgia mixed for modern anxiety, a balm between Scott Walker and Richard Hawley… an immaculately suave debut album” -Austin Chronicle
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Azmaris! Jason Frey - Tenor Saxophone, Electronics/EFX Carolyn Trowbridge - Vibraphone Mario Castellanos - Upright Bass Andy Beaudoin - Drums Beginning as an Ethio-Jazz offshoot of Austin Afrobeat band Hard Proof, the Azmaris have evolved into their own. Playing in the style of Mulatu Astatke and his use of Ethiopian tonality in a jazz combo setting, the group incorporates jazz instrumentation and psych sensibility to create moody introspective narrations.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Brian Donohoe Quartet! Brian Donohoe - Tenor saxophone Andy Langham - Piano Ryan Hagler - Bass Adam Jackson - Drums As a keyboardist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer, Brian Donohoe has worked on recordings and concerts around the world and across a bewildering variety of genres. From Bruno Mars and the Black Pumas to early works of Snarky Puppy and his own funk-fusion band, Progger, Brian has contributed to countless performances and productions in jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock, hip-hop, and ambient electronic music. A disciple of the avant-garde jazz and fusion movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Brian will be performing a relatively rare acoustic set at Monks featuring music by his strongest musical influences, including Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, along with music of his own.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Eli Menezes Quartet! Eli Menezes - Guitar Tony Bray - Saxophone Ryan Hagler - Bass Daniel Watson - Drums Eli Menezes is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer based out of Austin and New York City. His talent began at the early age of 12 while playing guitar, bass and keyboards in church and local bands in Rio de Janeiro. Since moving to NYC in the Spring of 2000 he’s been to over 60 countries and has worked with a diverse spectrum of artists and musicians from every style such as: Lauryn Hill, Richard Bona, Rita Ora, Faith Evans, Common, Ashanti, Estelle, Thalia, Fred Hammond and David Bisbal among many others. Eli currently lives in Austin, TX and is deeply involved in the Austin recording and live music scene where he often plays with Austin based artists such as David Grissom, Andrea Magee, JoJames, The Kill Tony Band, Gina Chavez and also FORQ from Snarky Puppy’s ground up music label.
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Dayne Reliford Quartet! Lineup TBA Dayne Reliford is a pianist, arranger, and composer from Houston, Texas. His musical journey started at the age of 4 when his grandparents enrolled him in lessons after watching him gravitate to their upright piano as a toddler. In December of 2020, Dayne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Now, he serves as a freelance musician in Austin and has shared the stage with artists such as Brannen Temple, Robin Mckelle, Delfayo Marsalis, Andre Hayward, Michael Malone, Hannibal Lokumbe, and others.