Advertisement
Lafayette Gilchrist’s music draws on the span of jazz history from stride to free improvisation, along with inspiration from hip-hop, funk, and Washington D.C.’s unique go-go sound. His work thrives on making surprising connections between styles and influences, boldly veering from piledriver funk to piquant stride, vigorous swing to hip-hop swagger, contemplative abstraction to deep-bottom grooves. Gilchrist is the pianist in the Sun Ra Arkestra, has toured extensively with David Murray, and his compositions have graced the soundtracks of David Simon’s acclaimed series The Wire, The Deuce, and Treme.He leads the genre-defying ensembles New Volcanoes and the Sonic Trip Masters All Stars, and along with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Eric Kennedy, he’s a member of the adventurous collective trio Inside Out. In 2017, Gilchrist was named a Local Legend by Baltimore Magazine, while Baltimore City Paper named Lafayette Gilchrist and the New Volcanoes “Best Band.” In 2018 he was chosen as a Baker Artist Award winner. Gilchrist has performed with Cassandra Wilson, Macy Gray, Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille, Orrin Evans, Paul Dunmall, Hamid Drake, William Parker, and many more. Gilchrist’s recent albums – 2019’s Dark Matter, 2020’s Now and 2023’s Undaunted – landed on numerous critics best of the
year lists at National Public Radio, Paste Magazine, All About Jazz, and many more.
“Gilchrist’s keys have completely transported us,” says Josh Myers in DownBeat about Move With Love, Gilchrist’s 2025 album with his New Volcanoes nonet. It’s “...some of the most explosive jazz-funk around, combining hard bop, hip-hop, rock, and go-go into a high-energy swirl that aims to get you up out of your seat and keep you there…. Get up with it, as Miles Davis would say.” – Philip Freeman, Stereogum.
Hearing Things make their New Hampshire debut while celebrating the vinyl release of their long-awaited second album, Hearing Things II: Attack of the Xenophobes. Led by Kingston, NY-based saxophonist Matt Bauder, they have been favorites at Brooklyn’s Barbès since 2015. Their music conjures a twilight world of surf riffs, soul grooves, and sideways jazz, at times inspiring deep listening but often instigating a spontaneous dance party. The trio also features JP Schlegelmilch on modified transistor organ and Vinnie Sperrazza, a bona fide historian of the drums. Whether opening for Nick Waterhouse or Will Butler (Arcade Fire, Stereophonic) on tour or performing at festivals like Rhoneymeade or True/False Film Fest, they have a way of seducing audiences onto their mythical planet.
Matt Bauder is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator whose work “emulates an ideal of mid century jazz modernism, without abandoning an exploratory air” (The New York Times). He has performed and recorded with a diverse range of artists including David Byrne, Arcade Fire, Father John Misty, Anthony Braxton, Bobby Previte, and Rob Mazurek. His several albums as a leader have taken on an equally eccletic range of interests from doo-wop to the avant-garde and back again. He also creates soundtrack work for interdisciplinary artists such as Aki Sasamoto and Ben Hagari, presented in international art museums and galleries.
JP Schlegelmilch is a pianist, composer, and improvising musician originally from New Hampshire now living in Brooklyn. Since arriving in New York he has performed with a wide range of musicians in the jazz and experimental music world. His 2019 album “Visitors” with drummer Jim Black and guitarist Jonathan Goldberger was widely acclaimed and included on Rolling Stone’s “Best Jazz Albums of 2019”. JP takes inspiration from his love of classical, jazz and rock and roll musical traditions and seeks to make music that transcends genre.
Vinnie Sperrazza has been a part of the NYC jazz and creative music scene for two decades. In bands and on records by Michael Formanek, Hank Roberts, Ethan Iverson, Mark Helias, cooperative groups Ember with Caleb Curtis and Noah Garabedian, the Choir Invisible with Charlotte Greve and Chris Tordini, Play with Jacob Sacks and Masa Kamaguchi, and recent shows with fellow-drummer Josh Dion, improviser Sam Newsome, or master vibraphonist Steve Nelson, Sperrazza’s buoyant time feel, commitment to new music and devotion to the legacy of his instrument’s masters (see Chronicles, his well-regarded Substack) have long been his calling card.
Advertisement
Event venue
NOVA ARTS, 48 Emerald Street,Keene, New Hampshire, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.