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Announcing...

CapitalBop presents a jazz-punk superbill on June 17: Harriet Tubman, The Messthetics and ¡FIASCO!

Words can’t describe the sound of the trio known as Harriet Tubman. But just calling it “freedom music” gets close: This band stands for freedom from categorization; freedom from dogma and limitations; freedom from the blindness of white supremacy, artistic commodification and every other structure that our country tries to force Black music to fit […]

June 8, 2022 0

Announcing...

David Murray’s Octet Revival and much more at the (free) HR Music Festival this Saturday!

With the summer festival season just getting going, CapitalBop is proud to be partnering this Saturday with the Home Rule Music Festival, an exciting new FREE outdoor festival bringing a mind-boggling lineup of jazz, funk and go-go greats to the Parks at Walter Reed. HR Fest is taking a mixed-media approach to the radical Black […]

June 7, 2022 0

The Month in Shows

5 live jazz picks for June in D.C.

June kicks off the outdoor concert season in earnest, bringing back even more pre-pandemic and new programming to the DMV. The popular “Jazz in the Garden” series at the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden kicked off last month but its first June presentation is notable: Afro-Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez, whose command of rhythm is […]

May 31, 2022 0

Announcing...

Brandon Woody’s UPENDO brings Baltimore fire to Petworth this Friday

Brandon Woody’s trumpet playing is a lightning rod. There’s a special kind of energy in his music that will let you know you’re witnessing something urgent and hyper-charged. When he puts the horn to his mouth, the entire room snaps to attention. A Baltimore native, Woody is a rising star on the international jazz scene, […]

May 23, 2022 0

Announcing...

Christie Dashiell’s voice has been heard on records around the world. Hear it in person at CapitalBop’s next show.

The last time Christie Dashiell sang at a CapitalBop presentation was Feburary 2020, at a special Valentine’s Day show featuring trumpet star Marquis Hill’s Love Tape band. Her voice left a powerful impression on every listener, from the first phrase on— as it always does. At CB shows, we often present DMV artists in double-bills […]

May 13, 2022 0

Interviews

The Messthetics’ Brendan Canty is punk royalty, but jazz runs through his bloodstream

If you ask legendary D.C. post-punk drummer Brendan Canty to name the greatest band of all time, the answer will not be the seminal early hardcore bands like Black Flag or D.C.’s own Bad Brains. Nor is it a titanic, stadium-rock band like Led Zeppelin or Queen. It’s Miles Davis’ so-called Second Great Quintet, featuring […]

May 13, 2022 0

The Month in Shows

5 live jazz picks for May in D.C.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was pretty easy to predict what venue a band might be playing at, and many jazz musicians had long-established allegiances to certain rooms. That’s still true, but so far it’s looking like one exciting post-lockdown development is that the formulas are getting scrambled a bit. Many acts — both local […]

April 29, 2022 0

Be in the room for CapitalBop’s next live taping, featuring steel pan master Victor Provost

If you’ve been following the D.C. jazz scene for long enough — or if you made it out to our 2022 Jazz and Freedom Festival in February — you’re familiar with Victor Provost’s singular sound on the steel pan. The St. John native’s distinctive fusion of Caribbean music, bebop and modern jazz is a powerful […]

April 26, 2022 0

Interviews

‘Just sound:’ Guitarist John Lee on prog-rock, world tours and making his Blues Alley debut

Guitarist John Lee is everywhere on the D.C. jazz scene. Well, really anywhere there’s a gig up and down our section of I-95, between Northern Virginia and Baltimore. Pre-pandemic, you could often find him at the side of Nicole Saphos — the Fiona Apple-adjacent jazz singer-songwriter and bassist — adding rich texture and detail to […]

April 11, 2022 0

Interviews

‘Cherishing this shared legacy:’ Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn on being back together for the first time in years

The last time Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn played together was at the Wigmore Hall in London, in September 2019. They were wrapping up a tour celebrating their first duo album, The Transitory Poems, recorded live at the Liszt Academy of Budapest the year before. It had received high praise from across the jazz and […]

March 31, 2022 0