HotSpots July 26

July 25, 2025

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🎷 Boundary-Pushers | | Artists redefining jazz through innovation, experimentation, or bold cross-genre expression \ \

Godwin Louis | Jul 25 | Jazz Gallery NYC  MORE INFO

Caleb Wheeler Curtis | Jul 26 | Ornithology Jazz Club - Brooklyn MORE INFO

Richard Cortez Band | Jul 26 | Django NYC MORE INFO

ArcoIris Sandoval’s Sonic Asylum Trio | Jul 25 | Zinc Bar MORE INFO

(Check out our online calendar)

Henry Plotnick Quintet | Jul 26 | Fiction - Brooklyn

Nick Green Quintet | Jul 25 & 26 | Smalls Live NYC

Valtinho Anastacio | Jul 26 | Zinc Bar NYC

Ladysmith Black Mambazo | Jul 25-27 | Blue Note Jazz Club

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

Jon Faddis | Jul 25 - 27 | Smoke Jazz Club NYC MORE INFO

Charles McPherson Quintet w/Terell Stafford | Jul 25 & 26 | Keystone Korner Baltimore MD MORE INFO *Live Stream

Bria Skonberg | Jul 25 - 27 | Birdland Theater NYC MORE INFO

Jeremy Pelt Quartet | Jul 25 & 26 | Jazz Forum Arts Westchester MORE INFO

Andrew Wilcox Trio w/Avery Sharpe & Yoron Israel | Jul 26 | The Side Door - CT MORE INFO

Ben Wendell | Jul 25-27 | Village Vanguard NYC MORE INFO

(Check out our online calendar)

Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes | Jul 25-27 | Birdland NYC

Steve Nelson Quartet & John Di Martino Trio | Jul 27 | Django NYC

Bill O’Connell Trio w/ Santi Debriano & Billy Hart | Jul 25 | The Side Door - CT

Ron Jackson 7-String Jazz Guitar Quartet | Jul 26 | Jackson Room NY

Valery Ponomarev | Jul 25 & 26 | Triump Brewing Co Red Bank NY

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

Sean Jones & NYO Jazz Ft. Luciana Souza | Jul 26 | Carnegie Hall NYC MORE INFO

Sounds of April & Randall | Jul 26 | Puffin Cultural Forum - Teaneck NJ MORE INFO

Roy Hargrove Big Band | Jul 27 | Rufus King Park, Jamaica Queens MORE INFO

Modern Martinis | Jul 26 | The Pierre NYC MORE INFO

Vincent Gardner & Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra | Jul 25 | Jazz At Lincoln Center

Terence Harper & The Harper Collective ft. Jazzmeia Horn, Kenny Banks Jr | Jul 25 | Dizzy’s Club

Darrell Green | Jul 25 | Harlem Jazz Boxx @ Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church

Charenee Wade | Jul 25 | Marcus Garvey Park (Jazzmobile)

FESTIVALS

SUMMERSTAGE

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force / dead prez / Elida Almeida / Rich Medina / Maryam Bukar Hassan • Rumsey Playfield, Central Park NYC

Champian Fulton | Jul 27 | Litchfield Jazz Fest - CT

Tribute to Quincy Jones | Jul 26 | BRIC House Brooklyn

Miki Yamanaka | Jul 27 | Riddim Jazz Fest MORE INFO

July 25-27, 2025 | Curated by Hot House Jazz Magazine

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)