EPK

Band Bio

The Jazz Passengers are a fantastical fusion of post-bop and musical comedy, once called a “perverse mainstream… hard-bop group as imagined by Frank Zappa.” (Bob Blumenthal, Boston Globe, 1989).

The Jazz Passengers loom large in the creative history of New York’s Lower East Side. Their name, a take-off on Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, reveals the musicians’ wild ride along the eccentric currents in modern American music. The band was founded in 1987 by saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, who realized a strong affinity in their Brooklyn roots while playing together in the Big Apple Circus band and John Lurie’s seminal band, the Lounge Lizards. They first broke out on the New York City avant-garde scene centering around the Knitting Factory with a hybrid of Mingus-influenced dance rhythms and original tunes complete with lyrics and/or entertaining stories. In the 40-odd years since their founding, their uniquely downtown mission of “cross-cultural exchange” has enlisted everyone from Jeff Buckley and Debbie Harry to Nick Hakim and Onyx Collective. Their signature blend of avant-garde jazz, 80s funk, world music, and 20th-century classical, coupled with lyrical provocations that range from the wistful and tragic to the vaudevillian and absurd, is a snapshot of the frenetic, syncretic New York of yesteryear: a living memory, a yearning we all have for something just out of reach. The Jazz Passengers embody that same energy – the energy of a scene and style that they helped create, and that has left an indelible mark on the culture of the city they call home. Co-founder Curtis Fowlkes passed away in August of 2023.

Besides Nathanson and Fowlkes the original band members (from 1987) included Bill Ware on vibraphone, E.J. Rodriguez on percussion, Bradley Jones on bass, Jim Nolet on violin and Marc Ribot on guitar. Today, the full roster of the Jazz Passengers include Roy Nathanson (sax), Bill Ware (vibes), Bradley Jones (bass)**, E.J. Rodriguez (drums)***, Sam Bardfeld (violin), Gabe Nathanson (vocals/ trumpet), Lucy Hollier (trombone), and Isaiah Barr (tenor sax). Guest vocalist Teri Roiger is also sometimes featured with the band.

The Jazz Passengers may also be presented in a reduced format as a quintet, with Roy Nathanson (sax), Bill Ware (vibes), Bradley Jones (bass), E.J. Rodriguez (drums), Sam Bardfeld (violin), or as a sextet, adding Gabe Nathanson (vocals/ trumpet).

*Curtis Fowlkes NY Times Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/arts/music/curtis-fowlkes-dead.html

**In New York/USA John Menegon substitutes for Bradley Jones, who now lives in Portugal.

*** In NYC, Zack O’Farrill and/or Alber Baseel substitute for E.J. Rodriguez, who lives in Arizona. READ MORE