The year 2019 has been a dead sprint for us so far. Our Spring ’19 season featured legends like Carla Bley, young icons like Ben Wendel, and hometown heroes like Kris Funn and Akua Allrich. Our DC JazzFest blowout, present::futures, was unlike anything we’ve ever done before. And our first-ever collaboration with NPR Music — a filmed presentation of Linda May Han Oh’s Aventurine octet — was something else.

But we’re not slowing down. Today CapitalBop is excited to announce our FALL 19 season: four months of DIY concerts large and small, with a special focus on the brightest rising talents within D.C.

FALL 19 picks up where we left off in the spring, presenting cutting-edge music from across the spectrum of improvised music — from straight-ahead jazz to cosmic ventures into uncharted territory. Our Traveling Loft series, which puts DMV-based artists onstage alongside internationally touring acts, will present two special concerts: one featuring a trio and multimedia experience led by experimental guitar legend Fred Frith, and the other featuring pianist Noah Haidu, an up-and-coming voice on the New York City modern jazz scene. At the Traveling Loft, Haidu’s quartet will feature Buster Williams (bass), Gary Thomas (saxophone), and Steve Johns (drums).

Underpinning the Traveling Loft, as always, are our monthly presentations featuring brilliant voices from the DMV: the DC Jazz Loft, our DIY show at Rhizome DC every second Sunday, and the Spotlight Residency, our series showcasing local bandleaders U Street bar/restaurant Local 16. The artists-in-residence at Spotlight this season are each remarkable composers and bandleaders: young bassist Steve Arnold in October, cellist/multi-instrumentalist Janel Leppin in November and saxophonist Tedd Baker in January. Our DC Jazz Lofts will feature two DMV-based artists per month; as a sneak peek at those lineups, get ready for drummer Kelton Norris and trumpeter Joe Brotherton in October, and trumpeter Charmaine Michell and guitarist Nelson Dougherty in December. (November and January’s bills are TBA.) For the December show, Dougherty’s jazz fusion collective ¡FIASCO! will celebrate their album release.

Read below to hear Luke Stewart, CapitalBop’s director of presenting, share his thoughts on our upcoming Traveling Loft acts, or click here to go directly to the full schedule.

Traveling Loft: Fred Frith Trio & Heike Liss
co-presented with Rhizome DC

with Dave Ballou / Saturday, October 5, 2019 / 8 p.m. / Rhizome DC: 6950 Maple St NW, Washington, DC

One of the living magistrates of the Avant Garde, Fred Frith is making a very rare appearance with his Trio. He is a pillar in the concept of Free Improvisation, though his compositions and conceptions throughout his career are ambitious enough to hold a place next to Braxton and Xenakis in the canon of Contemporary Music. The English guitarist may perhaps be best known for his associations with the Improvised Music community there, one of the stars of a generation which included Barry Guy, and Evan Parker. Once he became part of the community in New York City in the early 1980s, he joined a burgeoning yet challenging group of musicians like John Zorn who have since come to define the sounds and approaches to improvised music as we know today. With a career spanning more than 40 years, and recording 100s of albums, there is much to delve into throughout Frith’s body of work. For this Trio performance he recruits a formidable ensemble who will play with a visual accompaniment.

PLEASE NOTE: Presale tickets for this event are sold out. Standing room tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Traveling Loft: Noah Haidu Quartet ft. Billy Hart

with Kris Monson’s Suite for Charlottesville / Saturday, November 23, 2019 / 8 p.m. / Venue TBA

Perhaps one of the most difficult jobs on the jazz bandstand is that of the pianist. It is they who arguably have the hardest time rising above the fray of not just the horns and the drums, but the noise of a waining jazz industry in New York City. Noah has held steadfast to the tried and true method of letting his music shine. We at Capitalbop were sent a recording of his sometime last year, and we were floored by the moodiness of Noah’s playing. The chops and technique are there for sure. But his sound was able to deliver a vibe, a mood, that is unique to him, showing that he is a Musician on a path of originality within the tradition of jazz. Employing the legendary Billy Hart doesn’t hurt, but it is truly Noah’s band.

[Jamie Sandel:] Haidu’s opening act will be a feature in and of itself. Kris Monson, a young bassist and Virginia native who has become widely respected in the D.C. jazz community, will present the D.C. debut of his new project, Suite for Charlottesville, at the Traveling Loft. The suite, written for a seven-piece band of Monson’s close collaborators in New York City and featuring Charlottesville musicians John D’Earth (trumpet) and Jamal Millner (guitar), is a reflection on the recent white supremacist uprising in Charlottesville, Virginia. The suite was first performed with McArthur “genius” drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, and has received acclaim from leaders in the music, including trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and pianist Phil Markowitz. Reflecting on the importance of the suite, Markowitz is emphatic: “Kris Monson depicts in his Charlottesville Suite the angst and moral outrage of this tragic event. This is what music can be: a reflection and expression of important seminal moments in history.”