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Album reviews

Samuel Prather and his Groove Orchestra pass ‘G.O!’, collect 200 rhythms

Samuel Prather is a human jukebox — a man of 1,000 riffs, grooves and tunes. Put in a request and his ensemble, the Groove Orchestra, will lay into seemingly any tune with mellifluous horn melodies, driving funk guitar and pulsating rhythms. To hear Prather, 36, with the eight or nine members of Groove Orchestra is to […]

March 14, 2019 0

Videos

Kris Funn talks inspiration and connection in our newest ‘CB Sessions’ video

Kris Funn is one of D.C.’s most exciting new bandleaders. The bassist/composer’s 2017 debut, Cornerstore, earned top marks on our best-of-2017 list, and his hustle hasn’t let up since that album dropped. 2018 saw the release of Bodega: The Cornerstore Revisited, plus a win in the DC JazzPrix emerging artists competition at the 2018 DC […]

March 12, 2019 0

March 11, 2019 0

Donate to the DC Jazz Loft

In the DIY spirit, our DC Jazz Loft is, and has always been, donations-only. But artists deserve to be compensated for what they do. Although CapitalBop guarantees Loft musicians a small fee, it’s the donations from supporters like you that keep the series running — and 100% of your donations go directly to the artists! […]

March 10, 2019 0

Announcing...

Kris Funn brings the Cornerstore to U Street for our Spotlight Residency this month

In the No. 1 review on CapitalBop’s best-of-2017 list, Jackson Sinnenberg wrote that “like any good neighborhood bodega, Kris Funn’s Cornerstore somehow seems to offer anything you might need.” It was an apt description of Funn’s debut album, and also one that could be applied to Funn as a musician overall. On the bass he […]

March 8, 2019 0

Announcing...

Deep groove at our March DC Jazz Loft: Trae Crudup and Ian McColm follow an afternoon concert by David Murray

This month’s DC Jazz Loft features groups led by two of D.C.’s deepest drummers — Ian McColm and Trae Crudup. They’re different-sounding artists, no doubt, but they have one thing in common: they consistently break well out of expectations about the role of a drummer in an ensemble. Both Crudup and McColm show what it […]

March 5, 2019 0

Videos

Watch Elijah Easton blow the roof off our pop-up U Street jazz club

Our Spotlight artist-in-residence in January was the powerhouse tenor saxophonist Elijah Easton. He performed two shows with two different versions of his hard-hitting standards trio, who are known for performing jazz classics in a style that is anything but traditional. The video below, shot by Lauren Honesty, is a perfect example. Easton performs Thelonious Monk’s […]

March 1, 2019 0

The Month in Shows

5 March D.C. jazz picks

Editor’s note: Today we’re introducing a new monthly feature, which we hope will help readers find ear-opening live music. Around the first of every month, we’ll be listing five picks for the coming weeks, with show listings drawn from our comprehensive D.C. jazz calendar. The list below is just a tiny slice of the vast […]

March 1, 2019 0

Album reviews

Dante’ Pope sings soul for after sunset on ‘After 5 Music’ EP

The percussionist and singer-songwriter Dante’ Pope has a new five-song EP out called After 5 Music. Its name is meant to suggest the moods and emotions that start to rise as the sun sinks. And there are a few tracks on here that capture the feeling quite well: “One Summer’s Eve,” with its twilit, young-love […]

February 21, 2019 0

Announcing...

Power, finesse and groove: Meet Dana Hawkins, our next Spotlight artist

Dana Hawkins is that rare kind of musician who doesn’t just catch your attention; he commands it. If you’ve ever been in the room with Hawkins on drums when the late set was just starting at Service Bar, or Sotto, or 18th Street Lounge, you know what it’s like to hear Hawkins settle back into […]

February 21, 2019 0