HotSpots July 11

July 11, 2025

🎷 Boundary-Pushers | June 20–22 | Artists redefining jazz through innovation, experimentation, or bold cross-genre expression.

🎤 Adegoke Steve Colson & Iqua Colson Quartet | Jul 11 | SOUP & SOUND SERIES AT GREENWICH HOUSE MUSIC SCHOOL NYC | Improvisation as protest, healing, and revelation. MORE INFO

🎷 Wayne Escoffery & Jimmy Greene: “The Coltrane Legacy” | Jul 11 - 13 | Smoke Jazz Club | Explosive tribute with Lenny White on drums. MORE INFO

🎷 Jerome Sabbagh Quartet | Jul 11 | Django NYC | Gritty, lyrical modernism. MORE INFO

🎺 Ralph Alessi & Ether | JUL 11 | Jazz Gallery NYC | Stunning interplay and sonic exploration. MORE INFO

Mark Whitfield Jr. Trio | Jul 12 | ShapeShifter Lab - Brooklyn  MORE INFO

Roots in Sound: Eric McPherson’s ‘Cause and Effect | Jul 12 | Close Up NYC | Powerhouse drummer leading a quartet with Abraham Burton on sax, David Virelles on piano, and John Hébert on bass. MORE INFO

(Check out our online calendar)

Sarah Hanahan Zinc Bar, 82 W 3rd St, NY 10012 July 11 | 🕣 8:30pm zincbar.com

Anat Cohen Quartetinho Birdland, 315 W 44th St, NY 10036 July 11–13 | 🕤 9:30pm birdlandjazz.com

Pasquale Grasso Quartet w/ Luigi Grasso Birdland Theater, NY birdlandjazz.com July 11–13

James Zollar Quartet Smalls, 183 W 10th St, NY 10014 smallslive.com July 11–12

Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith The Django thedjango.org July 12

🎙️ Voices of Resistance:  Jazz that speaks truth to power—from spirituals to spoken word, these artists carry the torch

TK Blue – Harlem Jazz Series | Jul 11 | Harlem Jazz Boxx @ Mt. Morris Ascension Church, 12 Mt Morris Park W, NY MORE INFO

Bertha Hope Quartet | JUL 11 | Jazz Forum Tarrytown, NY | MORE INFO

Houston Person w/ David Leonhardt Trio | JUL 12 | Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA MORE INFO

🔥 Keepers of the Flame | June 20–22 | These artists uphold the core traditions of jazz — bebop, swing, Great American Songbook, and hard bop — with mastery and reverence:

Bettye LaVette | Jul 11 | Iridium NY MORE INFO

🎺 Django Festival Allstars 📍 Dizzy’s Club, 10 Columbus Cir, 5th Fl, NY 10019 📅 July 11 (part of Jul 10–13 run) | 🕘 9:00pm 🔗 jazz.org/dizzys

🎺 We Call It Jazz: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans 📍 Sony Hall, 235 W 46th St, NY 10036 📅 July 11 | 🕡 6:30pm 🔗 sonyhall.com

🎙️ Emily Braden – Tribute to David Bowie 📍 Adelaide Salon (Daddy Rabbit series), NYC 📅 July 11 | 🕖 Evening show 🔗 daddyrabbitnyc.com

🎷 Bebop Collective 📍 Cellar Dog, 75 Christopher St, NY 📅 July 12

🎸 Gene Perla 📍 Jazz Vespers (Church of the Ascension), 5th Ave & 10th St 📅 July 13

🎶 Paul Orbell 📍 The Penrose, 1590 2nd Ave, NY 10028 📅 July 13 🔗 penrosebar.com

FESTIVALS

July 11 - 14, 2025 | Curated by Hot House Jazz Magazine

SUMMERSTAGE

Jun 25 | Rhiannon Giddens / Lido Pimienta / SLOWSPIN / DJ Alisa Ali| 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Central Park Rumsey Playfield, Manhattan MORE INFO

Roots In Sound Festival

NEWS

The 14th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition is open for registration as part of NJPAC’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival. Solo vocalists worldwide, aged 18+, and unsigned by major labels can apply by September 2, 2025, at SarahVaughanCompetition.com. Finalists will perform live at NJPAC on November 23, 2025, judged by jazz icons including Christian McBride and Nnenna Freelon, with prizes up to $5,000. Inspired by jazz legend Sarah Vaughan’s 1942 Apollo Theater win, The SASSY Awards spotlight tomorrow’s stars. Presented by NJPAC and TD Bank, it’s a premier platform for jazz excellence.

MISC

JAZZ ANECDOTES … Alan Broadbent told me an anecdote about the late pianist Frank Strazzeri, who was also a skilled piano tuner. Frank arrived for a gig and found an untuned piano awaiting him. Frank tuned the piano, played the gig, then detuned it afterwards.. (~ Ken Dryden)