Monks Livestream's Upcoming Shows

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Drew Simpson Quintet!

Drew Simpson - Guitar

Tito Carrillo - Trumpet

Ryan Howard - Piano

Chris Jones - Bass

Michael Longoria - Drums

Drew Simpson is a guitarist and composer known for his expressive sound and dynamic blend of bossa nova, bebop, and modern jazz. He first made his mark in California, performing with jazz luminaries such as Wilton Felder, Ronnie Laws, Wayne Henderson, Ricky Lawson, Terrence Blanchard, The Banda Brothers, Bobby Hutcherson, Will Donato, Phillip Ingram and more, while appearing at renowned venues and festivals across the U.S. His debut album Noteworthy earned international acclaim, with “On Fallen Ground” and “Coastal Rays” reaching the Billboard Top 10. His follow-up release, Come Home, further showcased his composition skills across straight-ahead jazz and Bossa.

Since relocating to Texas, Simpson has become an active voice in the state’s vibrant jazz community, performing at The Elephant Room, River Sun, Continental Club, Monks, appearing on Austin PBS’s Women in Jazz, and bringing his music to festivals throughout the region. Building on his years of performing across the country, Simpson continues to captivate audiences with original compositions and inventive arrangements.

Amanda Bellitto – Vocals

Josh Meadows – Piano

Andrew Harkey – Bass

Chris Torres – Drums

Originally hailing from Fairfield, Connecticut, Amanda Bellitto is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and educator currently based in Austin TX. Starting early on with a formal training in jazz, she studied with luminaries such as Sheila Jordan. She has built a career spanning many genres including folk, bluegrass and pop. Her artistic pursuits have led to performances across the United States and Australia.

Raze Regal - Guitar

Stephen Bidwell - Drums

Brian Donohoe - Saxophones, Flute

Erik Telford - Trumpet

JaRon Marshall - Keys

Liam O’Dell - Bass

Michael Longoria - Percussion

Two musicians end up in an Uber in Austin one night. Stephen Bidwell is the driver and Raze Regal is the passenger, a perfectly everyday Austin meeting where your Uber driver is a Black Puma with several Grammy noms and the passenger is a bonafide wizard of the guitar (Once and Future Band, Nolan Potter's Nightmare Band). As musicians often do, they quickly found they had worked with a lot of the same players at the same studios. Some months later, Bidwell had him sub on a few shows with his afrobeat band Hard Proof. In scheming a means to play more, they decided the world needed a band playing the music found on CTI and associated labels of the 1970s.

Regal Bidwell Industries was born from that conversation. The vision was specific: dive into the parts of the CTI and Kudu catalogs that hip hop producers have been sampling for decades, those breakbeat-heavy, groove-forward moments that became the backbone of countless classics. Bidwell assembled some regular cohorts — Sean Giddings, Brian Donoho, Erik Telford, MIchael Longoria, and Sam Pankey — players who could lock into a pocket while leaving room for improvisation.

This goes beyond jam session vehicles like Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay and really digs into the catalog, focusing on the masterpieces tracked in Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio. It's jazz for people who know their crates, funk for people who know their theory, and a living reminder that the best sample sources were made by musicians who could really play.

Jamey Cummins – Guitar

Jake Harrell – Guitar

Phil Spencer – Bass

Alen Cileli – Violin

Ben Saffer – Clarinet

Jason Baczynski – Drums

Lead by Jamey Cummins, The Austin Django Project is a collective of Austin-based guitarists and string players. Honoring one of the greatest to ever do it, the collective brings to life the inspired work of the father of Gypsy Jazz, Django Reinhardt.