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). Their name, a take-off on Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, reveals the musicians’ wild ride along the eccentric currents in modern American music. Saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, who found strong affinity in their Brooklyn roots while together in the band of the Big Apple Circus and John Lurie’s seminal band, The Lounge Lizards, founded the band in 1987. 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. Besides Nathanson and Fowlkes the original band members included Bill Ware on vibraphone, E.J. Rodriguez on percussion, Brad Jones on bass, Jim Nolet on violin, and Marc Ribot on guitar. Today, the members of the Jazz Passengers are Roy Nathanson (soprano and alto sax), Bill Ware (vibes), Brad Jones (bass), E.J. Rodriguez (drums), Sam Bardfeld (violin), Gabe Nathanson (vocals, trumpet), Lucy Hollier (trombone), and Isaiah Barr (tenor sax). READ MORE