Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Sweet Megg! Sweet Megg - Guitar and Vocals Mose Wilson - Guitar Ben Triesch - Double Bass Roger Ross - Drums Sweet Megg returns to Monks for an unforgettable night of jazz standards. Accompanied by her stellar 4-piece band, Megg transports her audience through the rich traditions of jazz, blending the soulful blues of Billie Holiday with the swinging rhythms of Anita O'Day. Known for her deep emotional resonance and dynamic vocal delivery, Sweet Megg has become a favorite among jazz enthusiasts for her ability to reinterpret classic tunes with a modern flair while staying true to their roots. 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Elias Haslanger Quintet! An all original program, this show is not to be missed! Elias Haslanger – Tenor Saxophone Mike Sailors – Trumpet Ross Margitza – Piano Ryan Hagler – Bass Daniel Dufour – Drums Over the span of his 30-year music career, native Texan and Austin resident Elias Haslanger has carved a unique and distinguished place in jazz history as a saxophonist, composer, and band leader, whose playing and writing has drawn comparisons to John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, and Wayne Shorter. He has performed, recorded, and toured with many world-class artists including Ellis Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, Christopher Cross, Charlie Hunter, Asleep at the Wheel, Alejandro Escovedo, Sheryl Crow, Grupo Fantasma, Spoon, The Four Tops, and The Temptations, among many others. Mentored by the legendary saxophonists Harvey Pittel and Dick Oatts, Elias studied saxophone at the University of Texas and then at the Manhattan School of Music. His interest in writing music culminated in a Master’s Degree in Composition at Texas State University in San Marcos. Elias has performed around the United States and Europe at clubs like Snug Harbor in New Orleans, Jazz Alley in Seattle, The Elephant Room in Austin, and The Blue Note in New York. He has also served as a guest artist/lecturer at universities around the nation. Elias has 7 recordings as a leader all of which have been played on radio stations across the world. His 2014 recording LIVE at the Gallery, received 4.5 stars in Downbeat magazine and was listed as one of the best recordings of the year. "Haslanger's freewheeling licks roar with virtuosity and infectious joie de vivre." -Michael Jackson, DownBeat 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Collin Shook's Birthday Show! Collin Shook – Piano James Suter – Bass Daniel Dufour – Drums Collin Shook, native to Dallas, Texas, is a jazz pianist, composer, and founder of Monks Jazz. During high school, he studied instruments from all around the bandstand, moved to Austin in 2007, performed and recorded in Tucson from 2009 to 2013, and finally returned to Austin in 2014. In September 2016, Collin collaborated with the art co-op Topology in East Austin to create Monks Jazz Club, a pop-up listening room concept. Having hosted nearly 100 pop-up concerts in over a dozen venues from 2016-2020, Monks transitioned to a live-streaming format in response to the pandemic, and in 2021 landed a permanent brick and mortar space in the heart of East Austin, where Collin has produced over 600 Monks live-taping concerts. His two albums as a leader (Derivatives 2012 & The Desert 2016) can be found at collinshook.bandcamp.com 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Ari & Cecil Alexander Quartet! Ari Alexander – Voice, Piano Cecil Alexander – Guitar Rob Linton – Bass Danny McGonegle – Drums Ari and Cecil Alexander’s decade long musical collaboration has been brought to stages across the world such as the Lincoln Center and the Copenhagen jazz festival. A finalist in the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition, Cecil has been hailed by Jazz Guitar Today as “carrying the torch into the future,” and by Jazzwise as “a superb guitarist in the bop tradition, with bags of taste, swing and chops.” Holding a Scandinavian sensitivity to an American tradition, Danish-American Ari Alexander is as equally a jazz musician as she is a singer-songwriter. She was inspired to pursue jazz by her vibrant musical family, including her grandmother and great-aunt, jazz vocalist Teddi King. Aarhus Jazz Festival described her 2025 performance as following: "Ari treats every note with great imagination, and especially her mastery and playful use of scat singing sets her apart from other jazz vocalists. Together, Ari and Cecil anchor a quartet and duo sound that is intimate, dynamic, and rhythmically alive. Their forthcoming album Kaleidoscope is set for release in April 2026, and it features acrobatic, energetic originals penned by Ari and Cecil as well as reconstructions of the Great American Songbook. 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Jerry Espinoza | The New Standards Sessions! Jerry Espinoza – Saxophone Joseph Hernandez – Piano Bruno Avitia – Bass Chris Torres – Drums Born in Laredo, Texas, Jerry Espinoza received his bachelor's degree in Classical Saxophone Performance at Texas A&M in Kingsville, under the direction of James Warth. Jerry also earned a master's degree in 2015 in Jazz Studies at Texas State University, with emphasis in arranging, under the direction of Russell Haight and Hank Hehmsoth. Currently, he serving as adjunct professor of saxophone at A&M Kingsville and performs as a freelance musician across Central Texas. This concert will feature original compositions and fresh arrangements of jazz standards penned by Jerry & members across the bandstand. 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for FORQ! Henry Hey – Keys Chris McQueen – Guitar Eli Menezes – Bass Jason ‘JT’ Thomas – Drums Forq creates at the crossroads of infectious grooves, ear-bending harmony, and melodies that stick with you like gum on your shoe long after the show ends. A group of world-class improvisers, the band showcases musical finesse through a treasure trove of delectably genre-bending songs. Forq’s lineup is stacked with high-caliber players: originally founded by keyboardist Henry Hey (David Bowie, Empire of the Sun, Jeff "Tain" Watts) and bassist Michael League (Grammy-winning leader of Snarky Puppy), Forq has evolved to include guitarist Chris McQueen (Snarky Puppy, Bokanté) or guitarist Jordan Peters (Jon Batiste, Bokanté, Lauryn Hill), drummer Jason "JT" Thomas (Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor, Marcus Miller, Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri Trio), and bassist Eli Menezes (Richard Bona, Lauryn Hill, Meshell N’degeocello). 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Mara Kaye feat. Mike Sailors! Mara Kaye – Vocals Mike Sailors – Trumpet Ross Margitza – Piano Ryan Hagler – Bass Daniel Dufour – Drums About Mara Kaye: Bred and buttered in Brooklyn, powerhouse vocalist Mara Kaye is what Jazz Lives calls “one of New York’s great gifts to the world.” With a voice described as “Louis Armstrong’s trumpet at a rent party” (Jimmy Vivino, Conan O’Brien Show), she moves effortlessly between vintage jazz, blues, and hip-hop, lending her smoky swagger to rap legend AZ’s track “Never Enough,” featuring Rick Ross. Her debut single, a stirring rendition of “It Had to Be You” featuring roots piano icon Carl Sonny Leyland, is on steady rotation on KJazz 88.1 FM, and her original song “Dystopian Blues” was featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show and performed live on CBS News. Mara’s raw, timeless voice has filled legendary venues from Jazz at Lincoln Center and Smalls in NYC to The Green Mill in Chicago and the streets of New Orleans. She created and performed the role of chanteuse Marion Rhodes in the immersive Off-Broadway show Sleep No More and was an original cast member in Broadway Asia’s SpongeBob SquarePants The Musical. She’s shared stages with blues greats like Joe Bonamassa, Jontavious Willis, and Jimmy Vivino, and early in her career toured with the Yerba Buena Stompers, led by her mentor John Gill—playing alongside musicians who once backed up Louis Armstrong himself. About Mike Sailors: Mike Sailors has performed around the world in venues such as the Blue Note (New York, Tokyo, and Sapporo locations), Ronnie Scott’s, Porgy and Bess, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The Jazz Standard, Smalls Jazz Club, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; and has appeared at the Montreal, Detroit, EFG London, and Tokyo Blue Note Jazz Festivals. He has also been an active musician in Broadway orchestras, most notably as the Music Director of Sleep No More. In addition to leading the Mike Sailors Nonet, once dubbed "an all-star outfit" by the New York Times, he has performed as a sideman with the Birdland Big Band, the Hot Sardines, the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. An active composer and arranger, Mike has written for such luminaries as Dewey Redman, Dick Oatts, Sean Jones, Jimmy Cobb, and Peter Bernstein. He has composed and recorded music for numerous commercial campaigns, as well as for TV and Film – most recently for the Netflix original series, Cannon Busters. Sailors is also a performing artist/educator with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Let Freedom Swing educational program, is a copyist and editor for the Essentially Ellington jazz program, and currently serves as the Professor of Jazz Trumpet at University of Texas at Austin. 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Tito Carrillo Quintet feat. Joel Frahm! Tito Carrillo – Trumpet Joel Frahm – Tenor Saxophone Chris VIllanueva – Piano Sam Pankey – Bass Gerry Gibbs – Drums Tito Carrillo is a trumpeter, composer, and educator whose music blurs the lines between Afro-Caribbean music traditions and modern jazz. Born and raised in Austin to a Puerto Rican father and Mexican-American mother, Carrillo came to prominence in the mid-90’s in Chicago’s rich jazz and Latin music scenes, becoming a top call soloist, bandleader, and freelance trumpet artist. The Chicago Tribune describes him as having “acquired a reputation as a fluid improviser, doubly blessed with a warm lyric style and technique to burn.” The artists he has collaborated with are as diverse as his skill set: Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, Ryan Cohan, and Geof Bradfield; Chicago Latin groups Chinchano (Juan Pastor) and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble (Victor Garcia); big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker); salsa legends Andy Montañez, Cheo Feliciano, and Cuban flutist Orlando “Maraca” Valle; jazz greats such as Kurt Elling, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Carrillo released his debut solo album in 2011, entitled Opening Statement (Origin Records), to rave reviews. His most recent project Urbanessence (Origin Records), was released in October 2022 to much critical acclaim, and was selected as one of the top Latin music albums of 2023 by the North American College and Community (NACC) Radio Chart. 

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Ricky Alexander | The Ragology Tour! Ricky Alexander – Clarinet Shane Dickens – Piano Daniel Durham – Bass Colin Hancock – Drums On tour from NYC, Ricky Alexander brings his swinging clarinet to Monks to celebrate the release of his fourth album - Ragology (Turtle Bay Records). This album celebrates the roots of New Orleans jazz, and follows ragtime's influence on the jazz that came after it. Ricky will be joined by Grammy nominated Colin Hancock on drums, Austin's rising piano star Shane Dickens, as well as others. The album itself features Grammy award winning Conal Fowkes on piano, and banjo star Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton. This will be an unforgettable night, be sure not to miss it! With a career spanning over a decade, Alexander – also an equally talented saxophonist – has established himself as a prominent figure on New York’s jazz scene and beyond through his accomplishments as a recording artist, teacher, bandleader and performing musician. In addition to appearing as a featured soloist on over 30 albums, he has played in numerous TV commercials, films, and television productions, including a commercial for Jet Blue, Universal Pictures’ film “Bros” and others.