{"id":11032,"date":"2025-07-26T20:35:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T01:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=11032"},"modified":"2025-07-26T21:54:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:54:20","slug":"new-jazz-underground-newport-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/new-jazz-underground-newport-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Touching the Continuum: Sebastian Rios Previews New Jazz Underground at Newport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As nonsensical as it may seem in the abstract, sometimes ideological wars are a necessary step towards a renewed and invigorated community. This is certainly the case with the so-called \u201cjazz wars\u201d of the 1980s. After decades of further sonic expansion, one side came with a zealous desire to return the music to its roots. One of this army\u2019s most decorated generals, Wynton Marsalis, perhaps summarized their perspective best in a 1985 issue of Jet Magazine:  \u201cJazz has got to retain its integrity, its spirituality,\u201d and that could only be done through a return to its swinging and blues roots. The opposite side of the battlefield, a team of hip hop heads, avant-garde firebrands, and electric explorers who pushed for the music\u2019s continued growth further beyond its roots. In the words of Herbie Hancock,  \u201c[The music is] not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.\u201d While the skirmishes between these two factions were once very public, eventually the metaphorical musket smoke cleared, and the battle flags gradually lowered. And the music is now richer for it. The past two decades have seen a renaissance in jazz music, largely due to younger artists who learned to balance the positions of both sides. It is hard to find a better example than the New Jazz Underground, which will perform at the Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 2, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Jazz Underground originates at the Juilliard School, Marsalis\u2019 alma mater. As students at the esteemed institution, bassist Sebastian Rios, saxophonist Abdias Armenteros, and drummer TJ Reddick formed the group that became the New Jazz Underground. The trio\u2019s chordless instrumentation is a clear evolution of the novel structure established by Sonny Rollins in the 1950s. And the Underground undeniably swings. Hard. They take influence from the blues form. Marsalis gives the band his seal of approval. The New Jazz Underground has also worked closely with the House that Wynyon Built: Jazz at Lincoln Center. But that is only part of the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All under the age of thirty, the musicians of New Jazz Underground are of a generation that stereotypically prioritizes technology, economic pragmatism, and an emphasis on self-expression. These virtues are an inescapable part of the group as well. Where Wynton\u2019s music tried to find new audiences in classical concert halls, the New Jazz Underground has emphasized viral and virtual content. Some of their earliest performances together took place in parks and streets in a lockdown-era New York. But it is online where they truly found an audience. Performing songs with provocative titles like \u201cthey can hate but we still swingin\u201d, \u201cf**k\/s**t\/c**t\/jazz\u201d, and \u201csad boy jazz\u201d found many listeners who aren\u2019t exactly inhabitants of the Real Book. In the process, they gained a following of over a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the New Jazz Underground\u2019s divergence from the neotraditionalist ideal expands beyond the venues in which it performs. Growing up in an age where finding different styles of music comes by merely a click or a tap compared to having to walk to a different part of a store, the trio\u2019s music is inevitably more open to other artistic impulses. Hip-hop and pop music permeate the group\u2019s work. They have even dedicated recordings to the works of Kendrick Lamar and MF DOOM. The New Jazz Underground is much more sonically expansive than the perspectives pushed by Stanley Crouch, but, again, swing and the blues are paramount. The trio does not stake a place in wars past or relitigate old disputes. Instead, it finds ways to narrow any remaining gap between them, learning equally from both sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the New Jazz Underground, the music born in Congo Square, developed under Louis Armstrong, and continued to grow through  Duke Ellington and Miles Davis all the way to Ambrose Akinmusire, is indeed left in good hands. As the trio prepares to release its debut full-length album, we sat down with bassist Rios to discuss the group and their upcoming Newport performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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