Past Events

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.

When four musical travelers converge at Little Jumbo Bar, expect the conversation to wander through territories unmarked on any genre map. One brings a baritone voice seasoned by continents and street corners, another weaves bass lines that function more as gravitational fields than rhythm, a third treats the drum kit like a philosopher treats questions—with equal parts conviction and curiosity—and the fourth arrives carrying the collected wisdom of Asheville church music, Brooklyn beat labs, and 50 countries worth of sound.

This isn't just a quartet—it's four sonic cartographers who've learned that the most interesting destinations appear between the roads already traveled. Baritone reed meets chamber music architecture meets midnight voice memos meets the ghost of four-track cassette experiments, all of it converging in Little Jumbo's intimate geometry where every frequency matters and silence carries as much weight as sound.

In a room where proximity breeds revelation, prepare for an evening where Hard Bop fire dances with Congolese pulse, where hip-hop production philosophy informs jazz improvisation, and where four distinct musical obsessions discover they've been searching for the same thing all along. Sometimes the most profound conversations happen when no one's trying to speak the same language.

[or: "What Happens When a High School Club Achieves Sentience and Summons Its Members Across Space-Time"]

In the year 2000, a progressive acoustic group called AVAS released one album on Little King Records and vanished into the multiverse. Now, twenty-five years later, the quantum entanglement that bound these musicians has reached critical mass, creating a temporal anomaly that threatens to collapse the space-time continuum unless they reconvene and complete the sonic ritual they began at a Nashville high school decades ago.

Jay Sanders—last seen communicating with entities from the music of the spheres—has been pulled from his Tuesday night quantum residency. Jason Krekel materialized mid-letterpress print, his guitar still vibrating at frequencies that transcend the four-track cassette dimension. Andy Pond arrived via slamgrass wormhole, his banjo emitting comfortable reggae radiation. Gaines Post was extracted from the Blue Mountains of Australia, where he'd been writing science fiction novels that were actually encoded messages from his flute about the nature of reality itself.

Supporting this cosmically improbable reunion: Zack Page, whose 275-gigs-per-year averaged bass lines have created gravitational wells across multiple timelines. Will Boyd, whose soul sax tradition channels frequencies from the Great American Sunday Hymnal Dimension where spirituals become literal doorways to transcendence. And Alan Hall, the percussion philosopher whose forty years of alchemical drumming—converting kinetic energy into bridges between the earthbound and ethereal—have finally revealed their true purpose: reopening the AVAS gateway.

What happens when Bill Frisell meets Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Väsen meets Raymond Scott meets your high school music club twenty-five years later in a bar that exists simultaneously in Asheville and several adjacent dimensions? The answer may destroy conventional understanding of music, shatter the known capabilities of wooden flutes, recalibrate the fundamental constants of bluegrass physics, and prove conclusively that the Acoustic Vibration Appreciation Society was never about acoustic vibrations—but rather about engineering a self-sustaining tear in the fabric of musical reality itself.

What began as a student club has evolved into a living organism, a sentient musical algorithm that spans decades and continents, pulling its scattered members back together like cosmic debris orbiting an invisible singularity. This isn't nostalgia. This is the universe demanding completion of an unfinished equation written in sound waves and string theory.

Witness the AVAS Continuum. Watch out for aliens. Bring your third eye. The fundamental vibrations are calling, and they're not taking "I moved to Australia" as an excuse.

[WARNING: This performance may cause spontaneous appreciation of sacred geometry, involuntary understanding of the music of the spheres, and the sudden realization that your high school music club was actually a prophetic vision of the future. Side effects include: seeing sounds, hearing colors, believing that banjos might actually save the universe, and the unsettling certainty that newgrass was always meant to be a trans-dimensional technology. No refunds for dimensional displacement. Existential dread not included but highly probable.]

The UNCA XTet under the direction of Jacob Rodriguez

Rylan Dunn - Saxophone
Juca Camera - Piano
Jack Kilbride - Guitar
Ethan Matthews - Bass
Cami Caudle - Drums

Forget everything you think you know about student ensembles. The UNCA XTET isn't a jazz band—it's a sonic petri dish, a living organism that expands and contracts like a musical amoeba, adding saxophones when the composition demands fire, subtracting guitars when space becomes the statement, morphing its cellular structure to serve whatever strange new harmonic life form is being born that week.

This is what happens when you give the next generation of jazz architects an "X" instead of a number—a variable, a placeholder for possibility, a permission slip to ignore every "that's not how we do it" that's ever held music hostage. The XTET doesn't conform to traditional jazz configurations because traditional configurations were designed for a world that no longer exists. Why limit yourself to quintet when the song demands seven voices? Why force eight players into a sextet box just because that's what fits on a stage?

These aren't students playing at being musicians—they're mad scientists conducting experiments in real-time molecular jazz reconstruction. They've been training under some of the most dangerous minds in modern improvisation, absorbing techniques like radiation, mutating traditional forms into something that makes bebop veterans nervous and fusion pioneers proud. Every rehearsal is a controlled explosion. Every performance is a hypothesis tested in front of a live audience.

The "X" doesn't stand for ten. It stands for unknown, for unexplored, for "we'll figure out how many musicians we need when we see what the music demands." It stands for the generation that grew up with the entire history of recorded music at their fingertips and decided that genre boundaries were suggestions written by people who ran out of imagination too early.

Watch them shape-shift through original compositions that treat Coltrane and Radiohead as equally valid ancestors. Watch them navigate improvised passages that require the kind of trust usually reserved for BASE jumpers and tightrope walkers. Watch them prove that the future of jazz isn't in museums or textbooks—it's in rooms where young musicians are still crazy enough to believe that music can be dangerous, transformative, and absolutely necessary.

This is the UNCA XTET. This is where the laboratory accidents become the next generation's textbooks. This is what happens when you stop asking "how many players do we need?" and start asking "what does the music need to become fully alive?"

The Will Boyd Project isn't just a band—it's a spiritual reckoning delivered through reeds and rhythm, a sonic revival where the sacred traditions of the Black church collide with the revolutionary fire of jazz. Led by multi-instrumentalist and "mad sax man" Will Boyd, this ensemble transforms every performance into a joyful noise that honors the soul sax prophets—Eddie Harris, Hank Crawford, King Curtis—while pushing the movement forward with urgent, right-now energy.

From baritone sax sermons to bass clarinet benedictions, Boyd channels decades of soul tradition through every note, reimagining spirituals, hymns, and freedom songs with albums like Freedom Soul Jazz and Soulful Noise. This is music that's toured Japan, shared stages with Fred Wesley and Jeff Coffin, and graced PBS documentaries—yet still feels as intimate as a Sunday morning service in a Memphis sanctuary.

Joined by steady-grooving bassist Zack Page, thunderous drummer Micah Thomas, and the mountain magic of keyboardist Taylor Pierson, The Will Boyd Project proves that jazz has always been about liberation—musical, spiritual, and otherwise. Expect an evening where bebop meets the church pew, where virtuosity serves something bigger than technique, and where every song becomes a freedom song.

This isn't just a performance. It's a celebration. It's a sermon. It's proof that the future sounds like freedom.

When Snarky Puppy bandmates Chris Bullock and Justin Stanton—who've spent countless hours together since meeting in Texas in 2005—decided to bring their unique songwriting visions to Rio de Janeiro in 2023, they discovered something magical: Justin's compositions tended toward lighter sounds and feelings, while Chris's carried darker, sometimes sinister hues. The result became "Claro e Escuro" (Portuguese for "light and dark"), an album that celebrates the vibrancy of Brazilian culture while showcasing two decades of friendship, strong working rapport, and mutual respect between these five-time Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalists, composers, and producers.

Now these musical globetrotters bring their light-and-dark conversation to Asheville, anchored by two of the Blue Ridge's finest rhythm architects. Quinn Sternberg doesn't just play bass—he becomes the gravitational center around which musical solar systems orbit, his four strings serving as the invisible force that holds melody and rhythm in perfect harmonic balance, building rhythmic foundations so sturdy that horn players can stretch toward the stratosphere. Ryan Ptasnik brings his jazz-trained versatility from Wyoming high school bands to Central Asian opera houses to Asheville's vibrant scene, proving that the best drummers create the adaptable foundation that allows wildly diverse musical visions to flourish.

After Chris spent three months immersed in Rio's music culture, he brought Justin back for a week of tracking sessions where different configurations of musicians shifted the music's feel and groove—lending fire and spontaneity that now comes to life with Sternberg and Ptasnik as the rhythmic heart. Expect an evening where Asheville's own Chris Bullock (that's right—he started his musical obsession right here with Beach Boys and hip-hop cassettes) teams with Tennessee's Justin Stanton to prove that the most compelling musical conversations happen when saxophone meets trumpet, keyboards meet synthesis, light meets dark, and two of Asheville's most intuitive rhythm players make it all swing.

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.

Casey Driessen: Sunday Bazaar at Little Jumbo is a monthly residency on the 3rd Sunday where music spills out like treasures in a bustling market. Fiddle loops, wild grooves, sonic oddities, and vibrant rhythms mix together in a swirl of color and sound. Tease your tastebuds with expertly crafted cocktails and soak in the cozy, electric atmosphere. No two nights are alike—wander in, follow your ears, and see what you discover.

In ancient cosmology, the Empyrean was the highest heaven—a realm of pure fire and light where celestial beings dwelled beyond the planetary spheres, untouched by earthly corruption or temporal decay. It's the perfect name for three musicians who long ago abandoned ground-level groove for something that operates in the stratosphere of sonic exploration.

This isn't fusion. Fusion implies things that were separate. This is music that never acknowledged the boundaries in the first place—music from the highest heaven, where all sounds exist simultaneously in a state of pure potential, waiting for the right combination of strings, sticks, and celestial alignment to make them audible to earthbound listeners.

Jay Sanders doesn't just play music—he uses it as a star map, plotting courses through harmonic nebulae that haven't been discovered by conventional jazz cartographers. His conversations with entities from the music of the spheres aren't metaphorical. He's been there. He's mapped the territory. He knows which chord voicings open wormholes and which melodic contours can bend spacetime just enough to make listeners forget which dimension they're occupying.

Zack Page doesn't walk—he levitates, transcending physical properties, becoming a conduit for gravitational forces that hold entire musical solar systems in orbit. He carries dual citizenship in heavy metal's molten core and jazz's outer atmosphere, forging sonic highways that connect the subterranean to the celestial, the doom riff to the bebop line, all while making it sound inevitable.

Alan Hall propulsion systems—not for traveling through space, but for creating space itself. He doesn't just keep time; he manufactures it, stretches it, compresses it, and occasionally makes it disappear entirely. Every idea is a small supernova, recalibrating local physics. He's the timekeeper for music that exists outside time.

Together, they create what one observer called "a canvas of like-minded sonic adventurers"—but that undersells it. This is architecture in four dimensions. This is what happens when three virtuosos decide that the atmospheric constraints of conventional jazz trio playing are just suggestions that can be ignored by anyone with sufficient escape velocity.

THE SECOND SET ANOMALY: GRAVITATIONAL ASSIST FROM RETURNING COSMONAUTS

Midway through the evening, the trio's orbital trajectory will be altered by the arrival of two musicians who've been traveling their own elliptical paths through the cosmos:

Jason Krekel—the polymorphous string alchemist who's spent decades proving that different acoustic voices are really just different tuning systems for the same cosmic frequency.

Andy Pond—the philosopher who has spent years learning that seemingly opposite musical traditions weren't opposing forces but complementary wavelengths in the same universal vibration.

When these five trajectories converge in Little Jumbo's gravitational well, expect original compositions that oscillate between through-composed themes, world music influences, free jazz adventures, and whatever else manifests when accomplished musicians stop asking "what genre is this?" and start asking "what does the Empyrean sound like tonight?"

First Set: The Empyrean Trio in its natural three-body orbit
Second Set: Quintet configuration achieving critical mass

Witness the moment when Mount Olympus meets the music of the spheres, when cosmic jazz meets Appalachian alchemy, when three becomes five and Little Jumbo becomes a launching pad for sounds that were never meant to be contained by atmosphere, architecture, or anyone's preconceived notions of what a Tuesday night should sound like.

Launch sequence begins at 7. No spacesuits required, but recommended for full immersion.

Dive into the sonic waves of Quinn Sternberg's Mind Beach—where jazz becomes a landscape and every note washes over you like tide meeting shore.

This isn't your typical Monday night. It's an expedition into the spaces between beats, where four master musicians construct entire worlds from reed, string, skin, and ivory. Quinn Sternberg's bass serves as your anchor, holding gravity steady while Jacob Rodriguez's baritone sax paints horizons in deep indigo. Joe Enright's drums pulse like the heartbeat beneath sand, and Alex Taub's piano keys shimmer like moonlight on water.

Mind Beach isn't a place—it's a state of being. It's where mountain soul meets metropolitan sophistication, where tradition and exploration shake hands and decide to dance. These aren't just players; they're architects of the invisible, building bridges between what jazz was and what it could become.

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 two tenor saxophone masters converge at Little Jumbo Bar, expect nothing less than a masterclass in how geography shapes sound. Jack Wilkins brings his musical atlas—seven albums worth of landscapes painted through reed and breath, from Canadian Rockies to Appalachian ridgelines, Swedish jazz clubs to Grammy-nominated orchestral suites. His horn doesn't just play melodies; it composes entire emotional terrains, whether channeling Banff Centre residencies or mining Blue Ridge mountain soul. Dylan Hannan arrives as the genre-hopping storyteller, his saxophone carrying tales from Florida sunshine to Glenn Miller Orchestra tours across 18 states and four Canadian provinces. This former salsa band opener for Arturo Sandoval brings a musical passport stamped by everything from classical chamber competitions to R&B grooves, proving that the most interesting conversations happen when versatility meets tradition.

Together, they're supported by the Page Brothers—Zack's bass lines that have averaged 275 gigs per year since the '90s, moving from Virginia backroads to Swiss festivals, and Andy's guitar work that's traveled from Montreux to Japan while teaching the next generation at Appalachian State. Justin Watt completes this musical geography lesson, his Ohio-trained rhythms having anchored everything from Glenn Miller's legacy band to Asheville's intimate trio conversations.

At Little Jumbo's intimate setting, prepare for an evening where two tenor titans prove that the most compelling musical dialogues happen when master storytellers speak the same language through completely different accents.

Sometimes the best conversations happen when two horns remember they're telling the same story.

Join us at Little Jumbo for a night where the veil between worlds grows thin and the beats never stop! DJ Lil Meow Meow spins hypnotic rhythms that'll wake the dead and keep the living moving until dawn.

Adorned with marigold petals and flickering candles, our dance floor becomes a sacred space where ancestors boogie alongside the breathing. Paint your face with sugar skull artistry, sip on mezcal cocktails that taste like liquid starlight, and let the music carry your spirit between realms.

Come celebrate life, honor the departed, and dance like your abuela's ghost is watching (because she probably is, and she's got moves). Traditional altar offerings meet modern beats as DJ Lil Meow Meow weaves together sounds that bridge the earthly and eternal.

Death is just another reason to party—and this fiesta promises to be absolutely killer.

Costume encouraged, dancing required, spirits galore.

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 Brian Felix Organ Trio brings the church to the cocktail lounge on October 27th, with special guest Will Boyd turning sacred fire into sound. Felix's fingers conjure Jimmy Smith's ghost through drawbars and Leslie speakers, walking bass lines with his left hand that make upright players weep with envy while his right hand preaches the gospel according to groove. Behind him, Evan Martin's drums don't just keep time—they tell stories, whispering and roaring in perfect collaboration. Dr. Tim Fischer brings that rare fusion of doctoral precision and street-level swagger, where European sophistication collides beautifully with American blues DNA.

Then there's Will Boyd, carrying the lineage from Orangeburg church pews to Japanese concert halls, his saxophone speaking that ancient language where Eddie Harris meets Hank Crawford, where soul isn't a style but a requirement. This isn't background music for your Monday night—this is spiritual transportation disguised as entertainment, where the floor becomes congregation and every note is testimony.

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.

The Jay Sanders Quintessence distills the pure essence of improvisational expression, where four musical alchemists converge to transmute sound into its most fundamental form. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the primordial substance from which all musical reality springs.

Rooted in Taoist principles of interconnectedness, the Quintessence operates as a living system where individual consciousness dissolves into collective creation. Each performance becomes an exploration of Bill Hicks' profound insight: "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration; we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively." The music flows as pure energy exchange, where traditional boundaries between composer and improviser, leader and follower, self and other, dissolve into unified creative expression.

The quartet's repertoire crystallizes the essential qualities of diverse influences—jazz sophistication meets rock power, blues authenticity converges with Americana's pastoral beauty, while African rhythmic wisdom weaves through it all. Sanders' original compositions serve as launching points for spontaneous musical conversations, where through-composed themes evolve into groove-based explorations, peaceful melodicism transforms into free jazz adventures, and moments of cacophonous noise resolve into transcendent harmony.

Through years of improvisational study together, these four musicians have learned to access that rarefied creative space where genres become meaningless, where technique serves spirit, and where the music creates itself through willing vessels. Each performance with the Quintessence is both a meditation and a celebration—a sonic demonstration that we are indeed all particles of the same infinite energy, temporarily organized into the beautiful illusion of separate beings making music together.

In the end, the Quintessence doesn't just play music—it channels the fundamental frequency of existence itself, reminding listeners that life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.

When four master stringsmen gather to channel the spirit of Django Reinhardt, expect the kind of musical magic that happens when tradition meets fearless innovation. The Page Brothers—Andy's jazz guitar sophistication meeting Zack's rhythmic prowess that's averaged 275 gigs per year since the '90s—anchor this drummerless exploration of gypsy jazz at its most sublime. Steve Trisman's fiddle brings the fire that transforms contra dance floors into celebrations, while Leo Johnson's golden-era guitar mastery channels the soulful echoes of Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery.

This isn't just a tribute to Django's legacy—it's a conversation between four musicians who understand that the most compelling gypsy jazz happens when technical virtuosity serves pure emotion. Without drums to rely on, every rhythmic pulse must emerge from the interplay itself, creating the kind of intimate musical dialogue that made Django's original quintet revolutionary. From Andy's academic wisdom to Zack's restless American spirit, from Trisman's dance-floor magnetism to Johnson's timeless swing sensibilities, this quartet proves that some musical conversations are worth having without a timekeeper.

At Little Jumbo's intimate setting, prepare for an evening where strings tell stories, where silence becomes rhythm, and where four musicians prove that the deepest grooves sometimes come from the spaces between the obvious beats.

Sometimes the most driving music happens when nobody's driving.

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.

The Jay Sanders Quintessence distills the pure essence of improvisational expression, where four musical alchemists converge to transmute sound into its most fundamental form. This quartet embodies the philosophical concept of quintessence—the fifth element beyond earth, air, fire, and water—representing the primordial substance from which all musical reality springs.

Rooted in Taoist principles of interconnectedness, the Quintessence operates as a living system where individual consciousness dissolves into collective creation. Each performance becomes an exploration of Bill Hicks' profound insight: "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration; we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively." The music flows as pure energy exchange, where traditional boundaries between composer and improviser, leader and follower, self and other, dissolve into unified creative expression.

The quartet's repertoire crystallizes the essential qualities of diverse influences—jazz sophistication meets rock power, blues authenticity converges with Americana's pastoral beauty, while African rhythmic wisdom weaves through it all. Sanders' original compositions serve as launching points for spontaneous musical conversations, where through-composed themes evolve into groove-based explorations, peaceful melodicism transforms into free jazz adventures, and moments of cacophonous noise resolve into transcendent harmony.

Through years of improvisational study together, these four musicians have learned to access that rarefied creative space where genres become meaningless, where technique serves spirit, and where the music creates itself through willing vessels. Each performance with the Quintessence is both a meditation and a celebration—a sonic demonstration that we are indeed all particles of the same infinite energy, temporarily organized into the beautiful illusion of separate beings making music together.

In the end, the Quintessence doesn't just play music—it channels the fundamental frequency of existence itself, reminding listeners that life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.

Sometimes the most powerful revivals happen when five master musicians gather in an intimate room and decide to resurrect the soul that made jazz matter in the first place. Jacob Rodriguez's world-traveling baritone sax brings the grit of San Antonio streets and the polish of Grammy stages, ready to channel stories through reed and breath that connect Brooklyn underground scenes to Blue Ridge mountaintops. Quinn Sternberg anchors this sonic revival with bass lines that don't just walk—they preach, transforming rhythm section duties into gravitational sermons that make everyone else sound sanctified.

Joe Enright treats his drum kit like a revival tent, his sticks weaving rhythmic narratives that bridge Asheville's mountain soul with metropolitan jazz sophistication, while Alex Taub's piano becomes both altar and architect, finding those sacred spaces between classical precision and jazz spontaneity where musical miracles happen. Andy Page completes this congregation with guitar work that's traveled from Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival to Japan's jazz cruises, bringing two decades of Blue Ridge wisdom and academic soul to every note.

At Little Jumbo Bar, where the walls themselves seem to lean in when real music is being born, prepare for an evening where the soul jazz tradition gets resurrected not through imitation, but through five musicians who understand that the deepest grooves come from the spaces where technique meets spirit, where mountain wisdom meets world-class artistry.

Some revivals don't need preachers—just musicians who remember why the music mattered.

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.