In the intimate confines of Little Jumbo Bar, three musical architects will converge to build sonic cathedrals from pure improvisation. The Blingus Trio brings together a trinity of Asheville's most innovative voices: Jeff "Apt. Q-258" Sipe, the Grammy-nominated rhythmic alchemist who transforms drum kits into interdimensional portals; Quinn Sternberg, the gravitational bass force whose four strings hold entire musical solar systems in perfect orbit; and Jay Sanders, the genre-defying guitarist-composer whose sonic experiments blend everything from jazz fusion to symphonic grandeur.
This isn't just another jazz trio—it's a meeting of minds where Sipe's legendary groove mastery (honed through collaborations with Trey Anastasio and John McLaughlin) converges with Sternberg's architectural bass storytelling and Sanders' universe-building compositional vision. Expect musical conversations that dance between chamber music intimacy and cosmic exploration, where decades of collective experience crystallize into moments of pure spontaneous creation.
When three masters of their craft gather in one room with nothing but their instruments and boundless creative possibility, magic happens. The Blingus Trio promises an evening where every note is a question, every groove is an answer, and the space between the beats holds infinite potential.
Justin Ray's trumpet doesn't announce itself with fanfare; it whispers invitations that pull you into the kind of musical dialogue where honesty is the only currency. This isn't flash or fury—this is a catalyst who makes every musician around him remember exactly why they fell in love with playing in the first place. Leading with the quiet confidence that only comes from truly listening, Ray creates gravitational fields where Monday nights transform into Asheville's best-kept secret.
Behind him, the Brian Felix Organ Trio conjures the entire architecture of American soul. Felix's Hammond B3 turns cocktail lounges into revival meetings where salvation arrives through swing, his left hand walking bass lines that make upright players jealous while his right preaches sermons in chords. Evan Martin's drums whisper and roar in perfect telepathy, every snare accent serving the greater narrative. Dr. Tim Fischer's guitar exists in that rarified space where doctoral precision collides beautifully with street-level groove, proving that the most interesting music lives at the intersection of incompatible styles.
Tonight, Ray's trumpet poses musical questions that make the organ, drums, and guitar answer with their most honest voices. This is collaborative alchemy in real time—leadership through inspiration, not domination.
"Post-Helene: Remembering, Rebuilding, Reimagining" is a faculty-led, campus-wide, community-engaged symposium, funded by the NEH Professorship under the direction of Dr. William Bares (humanities/arts), with assistance from Dr. Megan Underhill (social sciences) and Dr. David Gillette (natural sciences). Spread across UNC Asheville's diverse academic environment and beyond, the three-day symposium offers a place for collective reflection on Helene's legacy.
Proprietor and Sinfonietta Helene composer Jay Sanders opens the beloved neighborhood venue Little Jumbo to symposium particiants and organizers to celebrate the conclusion of the Blue Ridge Orchestra concerts and a week's worth of symposium events.
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos.
September 22nd, Little Jumbo Bar becomes ground zero for a musical convergence that reads like jazz fiction: a Manhattan School of Music alum who's conquered everything from Brooklyn underground to Grammy stages, a guitarist the New York Times calls an "articulate ace," and three mountain maestros who've turned Asheville into a secret jazz laboratory. Jacob Rodriguez's baritone sax rumbles with the wisdom of San Antonio streets and Michael Bublé tours, while Jesse Lewis conjures sonic environments where steel strings become time machines. Quinn Sternberg doesn't just walk the bass—he builds gravitational fields that make everyone else orbit in perfect harmony, as Joe Enright and Alex Taub transform rhythm section into rocket fuel.
This isn't your typical Monday night—it's five musical storytellers who've discovered that the most profound conversations happen when tradition meets innovation at exactly the right volume in exactly the right room.
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos.
The Core represents everything essential about Asheville's jazz DNA distilled into five musicians who understand that the best ensembles aren't just collections of individual talents—they're alchemical reactions where individual voices merge into something greater than their sum. This quintet embodies the mountain city's unique musical ecosystem, where Blue Ridge authenticity meets sophisticated harmonic exploration, where the intimacy of local venues allows for the kind of musical risk-taking that transforms standards into personal statements. Named for their ability to get to the heart of every song they touch, The Core strips away musical pretense to reveal the emotional architecture beneath, proving that jazz at its best isn't about showing off—it's about showing up completely for each moment, each phrase, each possibility that emerges when five musicians breathe together in perfect musical democracy. In Asheville's thriving jazz scene, The Core stands as both inheritors of tradition and pioneers of what's next, reminding audiences that the most profound musical experiences happen when virtuosity serves vulnerability, when technique becomes the vehicle for something infinitely more human.
Join us at Little Jumbo for CRAFT: Authors in Conversation, a series conceived and hosted by New York Times bestselling author Denise Kiernan. On September 14th, Denise's guest will be Thomas Calder, author of The Wind Under the Door and managing editor of Mountain Xpress.
Doors open at 4:00 PM. Conversation starts no later than 4:30 PM. Seating is first come, first served. No registration is required.
Little Jumbo staff creates a specialty cocktail or mocktail for each CRAFT event.
Little Jumbo offers free parking at 5 Points Restaurant across Broadway. There is also street parking nearby. Find more information at denisekiernan.com/craft.
The Wind Under the Door
Starting over is always easier among strangers. For Ford Carson, the process meant leaving behind the waves of South Florida in order to forge a new life as a visual artist in the mountains of North Carolina. At the peak of his reinvention, he meets Grace Burnett—a young, wealthy Texas transplant in the midst of her own transformation. A mutual infatuation develops. But when Grace’s estranged husband arrives complications ensue. Matters only worsen when Ford’s own estranged son announces plans to visit for his eighteenth birthday. Thomas Calder’s debut novel explores the lasting impact of broken bonds and the unanticipated ways the past haunts those on the run.
September 13th at Little Jumbo Bar, DJ Lil Meow Meow transforms Asheville's coziest corner into a sonic time machine where funk ancestors high-five electronic futures. This isn't your typical dance party—it's musical alchemy where vintage soul gets remixed with contemporary fire, and every beat drop feels like discovering a secret handshake between genres.
Picture bodies moving like they're having conversations with the rhythm, while a feline-monikered maestro behind the decks reads the room like jazz sheet music and responds with hip-hop poetry. The dancefloor becomes a democracy where every groove votes and every transition opens a portal to somewhere you didn't know you needed to go.
Come ready to move, stay ready to be moved, and leave with that perfectly disheveled satisfaction that only comes from dancing your way into next week's best story.
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos.
Fans of the hard-hitting, iconic Blue Note jazz albums of the 1950s and 1960s will feel right at home with Hard Bop Explosion, a band dedicated to playing hits and rare grooves with authenticity and fire. The band ignited the Asheville scene at Tressas Jazz and Blues in 2012 and was the house band at the Isis from 2013-2015. This September, the band re-ignites at Little Jumbo with a new drummer and a decade’s worth of pent-up energy. Look out!
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos.
When a bass legend who's anchored Stan Getz, Jim Hall, and Chet Baker meets Asheville's most intimate jazz room, magic happens. Steve LaSpina brings four decades of New York City jazz mastery to Little Jumbo, joined by drummer Alan Hall (whose sticks have danced behind Lee Konitz across three continents), guitarist Dr. Tim Fischer (where USC precision meets street-level groove), and pianist Dr. Bill Bares (Harvard professor turned piano poet).
This Labor Day evening promises the kind of musical conversation that only happens when four lifetimes of jazz experience converge in one room. At Little Jumbo Bar, where the walls lean in when real musicians take the stage, prepare for bass lines that connect Texas dance halls to Manhattan's most hallowed stages, all wrapped in the intimate atmosphere that makes every note feel like a personal revelation.
Some musical conversations are worth four decades in the making.
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos. The Jay Sanders Quintessence:
Jay Sanders - Guitar, ERAE Touch Synthesizer, and Effects
Will Boyd - Reeds, Flute, EWI, and Effects
Zack Page - Bass and Effects
Alan Hall - Drums and Percussion
The Empyrean Trio ascends to the highest sphere of musical expression, where Sanders, Page, and Hall commune in the celestial realm of pure improvisation. Like ancient philosophers who believed the empyrean was the highest heaven—a place of fire and light beyond the physical world—this trio inhabits the ethereal space where earthbound genres dissolve into transcendent musical dialogue.
Their original compositions float between the terrestrial and the sublime, oscillating from groove-laden explorations that anchor listeners to the physical realm, to free-form adventures that lift consciousness into the empyrean heights of pure sonic possibility. Through jazz, rock, blues, and world music influences refined by years of improvisational alchemy, the trio channels the luminous fire of creative spontaneity.
In this rarefied atmosphere, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit between the material and immaterial, Page's bass provides the gravitational pull that keeps the music tethered to human experience, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic cosmos in which their empyrean visions unfold.
The Empyrean Trio:
Jay Sanders - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, ERAE Touch Synthesizer, and Effects
Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass and Effects
Alan Hall - Drums and Percussion
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall distill the pure essence of improvisational expression, converging as alchemists of sound, transmuting musical elements into their most essential forms. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the fundamental substance from which all musical reality springs.
Their original compositions crystallize the essential qualities of diverse influences, oscillating between through-composed musical themes, groove-based soul explorations, traditional jazz-influenced pieces, Americana-inspired peaceful melodicism, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and occasional forays into cacophonous noise music. Through years of improvisational study, they've learned to access that rarefied space where genres dissolve into pure creative energy.
In this musical laboratory, Sanders' guitar becomes a conduit for universal vibration, Boyd's reeds channel the breath of consciousness itself, Page's bass provides the fundamental frequency of existence, while Hall's percussion creates the rhythmic heartbeat of the cosmos. The Jay Sanders Quintessence:
Jay Sanders - Guitar, ERAE Touch Synthesizer, and Effects
Will Boyd - Reeds, Flute, EWI, and Effects
Zack Page - Bass and Effects
Alan Hall - Drums and Percussion
Aaron Irwin - Saxophones & Clarinets
Mike Baggetta - Guitar
Bill Campbell - Drums
CRAFT’s concept is simple:
Denise Kiernan sits down with a writer in this speakeasy setting to discuss not only the writer’s latest publication, but also the craft of writing itself. For each featured author, the Little Jumbo staff will create a specialty cocktail—or mocktail—inspired by either the featured book or the author themselves.
WHO
Me, Denise, sitting down with authors from all walks—literary fiction, nonfiction, graphic novelists, mystery authors, romance writers, TV and film folks…You get the idea.
WHAT
An hour of conversation about the guest author’s work, writing process and more, with time for audience questions. Conversations are followed by an author signing. Books provided by Malaprop’s.
WHERE
Little Jumbo, located at 241 Broadway Street in Asheville, a bar and then some, offering classic and classically-inspired craft cocktails, food, games, and more.
When
WHEN
The second Sunday of every month. Doors open at 4. Conversation starts no later than 4:30 PM.
Free parking is available in the lot at 5 Points Restaurant across Broadway, in addition to general street parking. On-site book sales will be provided by Malaprop’s.
Will Boyd- Reeds
Taber Gable- Keys
David Becher- Bass
Kenneth Brown- Drums
