Past Events
LITTLE JUMBO CREATIVE MUSIC SERIES
Little Jumbo's creative music series functions as a cultural incubator, providing space for the genesis of new musical ideas. Every Monday and Tuesday, we showcase world-class musicians performing original, boundary-pushing work, completely free, no cover charge. This isn't background music; it's music in its purest form: live, unfiltered, and pushing the genre forward in real time. As an incubator, we create space where musicians explore new sonic territories and audiences encounter ideas they've never heard before. Democratizing access to exceptional art is who we are; it's the same philosophy behind everything we do.
Sunday
October
12
2025
Authors in Conversation with Denise Kiernan and Andrew Lawler
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...
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
October
7
2025
Jay Sanders' Quintessence ft. Will Boyd, Alan Hall, & Danny Iannucci
**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 consci...
- Will Boyd - Sax, Flute, Clarinet, EWI
- Danny Iannucci - Bass
- Alan Hall - Drums
- Jay Sanders - Guitar and Effects
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
October
6
2025
Soul Jazz Revival
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 pr...
- Joe Enright - Drums
- Andy Page - Guitar
- Alex Taub - Piano
- Quinn Sternberg - Bass
- Jacob Rodriguez - Saxophone
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
September
30
2025
The Blingus Trio: Jeff Sipe, Quinn Sternberg & Jay Sanders
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 guitari...
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
September
29
2025
Justin Ray with the Brian Felix Organ Trio
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.
Behin...
Admission:
FREE!
Sunday
September
28
2025
Post-Helene: Remembering, Rebuilding, Reimagining Symposium Closing Celebration
**"[Post-Helene: Remembering, Rebuilding, Reimagining](https://www.posthelenesymposium.com)"** 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 ...
Admission:
FREE
Tuesday
September
23
2025
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall
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-com...
- Will Boyd - Sax, Flute, Clarinet, EWI
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Alan Hall - Drums
- Jay Sanders - Guitar and Effects
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
September
22
2025
Jacob Rodriguez Quintet ft Jesse Lewis
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 enviro...
- Jesse Lewis - Guitar
- Joe Enright - Drums
- Alex Taub - Piano
- Quinn Sternberg - Bass
- Jacob Rodriguez - Saxophone
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
September
16
2025
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall
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-com...
- Will Boyd - Sax, Flute, Clarinet, EWI
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Alan Hall - Drums
- Jay Sanders - Guitar and Effects
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
September
15
2025
The CORE
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-takin...
- Evan Martin - Drums
- Justin Ray - Trumpet
- Bill Bares - Piano
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Jacob Rodriguez - Saxophone
Admission:
FREE!
Sunday
September
14
2025
Denise Kiernan & Thomas Calder
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.
...
Admission:
FREE!
Saturday
September
13
2025
Saturday Night Dance Party
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 ...
Admission:
$5
Tuesday
September
9
2025
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall
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-com...
- Will Boyd - Sax, Flute, Clarinet, EWI
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Alan Hall - Drums
- Jay Sanders - Guitar and Effects
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
September
8
2025
Dr. Bill Bares presents the return of Hard Bop Explosion
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!
- Joe Enright - Drums
- Justin Ray - Trumpet
- Bill Bares - Piano
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Jacob Rodriguez - Saxophone
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
September
2
2025
Sanders, Boyd, Page & Hall
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-com...
- Will Boyd - Sax, Flute, Clarinet, EWI
- Zack Page - Acoustic & Electric Bass
- Alan Hall - Drums
- Jay Sanders - Guitar and Effects
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
September
1
2025
Steve LaSpina
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 mu...
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
August
26
2025
Jay Sanders, Will Boyd, Zack Page & Alan Hall
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-com...
Admission:
FREE!
Saturday
August
23
2025
Tuesday
August
19
2025
Jay Sanders' Empyrean Trio featuring Zack Page & Alan Hall
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 ...
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
August
18
2025
Tuesday
August
12
2025
Jay Sanders, Will Boyd, Zack Page & Alan Hall
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-com...
Admission:
FREE!
Monday
August
11
2025
Aaron Irwin TRIO
Aaron Irwin - Saxophones & Clarinets
Mike Baggetta - Guitar
Bill Campbell - Drums
Admission:
FREE!
Sunday
August
10
2025
Authors in Conversation with Denise Kiernan and Bonnie Kistler
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...
Admission:
FREE!
Tuesday
August
5
2025
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