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!
Featuring
Joe Enright transforms every drum kit into a storytelling machine, his sticks weaving rhythmic narratives that bridge the gap between Asheville's mountain soul and metropolitan jazz sophistication. This is drumming as architectural engineering, where every kick, snare, and cymbal crash serves both the song's immediate needs and its deeper emotional blueprint. Enright understands that great drumming isn't about technical flash—it's about becoming the heartbeat that allows other musicians to...
In a scene filled with talented musicians, Justin Ray has emerged as both a formidable trumpet voice and the kind of musical leader who makes everyone around him want to dig deeper into their craft. Leading the Justin Ray Quartet with the kind of understated authority that comes from deep listening and deeper respect for the tradition, Ray embodies the collaborative spirit that keeps Asheville's jazz scene thriving. His trumpet doesn't just play melodies—it starts conversations, poses...
From Nebraska to Harvard to Little Jumbo, Dr. Bill Bares embodies the scholarly soul of jazz—a NEH Distinguished Professor whose academic credentials from Amherst College read like a jazz education manifesto written in political science and piano poetry. When a lip injury ended his All-American trumpet dreams, Bares discovered that sometimes life's detours lead to destinations you never knew you were seeking. Now directing jazz studies at UNC Asheville after teaching stints at Harvard, Brown,...
On their twelfth Christmas, Pete Page gave one son a guitar and the other a bass. The old man loved Booker T. & the M.G.'s and worshipped Duck Dunn, and he had a theory that every good band needs a good bass man. He wasn't wrong. Andy got the guitar. Zack — four minutes younger, identical in face, opposite in instrument — got the bass. Their mother came from the McGhees of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, a family whose old-time music roots run back generations through the Appalachian soil....
From San Antonio street corners to Michael Bublé's Grammy-winning stages, Jacob Rodriguez has woven a musical tapestry that spans continents and genres. This Manhattan School of Music alumnus doesn't just play saxophone—he channels stories through reed and breath, whether he's painting midnight hues with Ambrose Akinmusire in Brooklyn's underground scene or igniting arena crowds alongside pop royalty. Now nestled in Asheville's Blue Ridge embrace, Jacob has become the valley's secret weapon,...
Admission
FREE!