NEW jazz underground

About:

New Jazz Underground is an American trio described as “an innovative and ultra creative collective striving to establish themselves as a defining voice for the genre of Jazz and beyond.” Their music merges traditional jazz sensibilities such as blues, swing, and improvisation with modern influences including hip-hop, pop, and Afro-Latin music. Listeners were first introduced to the trio’s fresh sound through viral living-room performance videos that highlighted the band’s exuberant chemistry, effortless musicality, and raw ambition.

Saxophonist and composer Abdias Armenteros, bassist and composer Sebastian Rios, and drummer TJ Reddick are each lauded as some of jazz’s most promising young artists. After meeting as students at The Juilliard School, the trio began playing in New York City parks during the 2020 lockdown and posting performances online, growing their YouTube channel to over 100,000 subscribers. Releases such as MF Doom Suite, Harlem to Havana, and cook/swing/work/relax demonstrate both their reverence for jazz icons and their commitment to forging a new, genre-transcending voice.

New Jazz Underground is the 2023 DCJazzPrix™ Winner and was most recently featured on NPR Music for their song “Oney Ones One.” Dynamic and powerful performers, the trio is helping re-energize contemporary jazz while pointing toward its future.