MINGUS BIG BAND Tuesday Residency 7:30PM + 9:30PM

The Django welcomes the Grammy award-winning Mingus Big Band to its stage every Tuesday night. The “city’s hardest big band (Time Out New York),” celebrates the music of composer/bassist Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, this 14-piece band performed Thursday nights from 1991 to 2004 at Fez under Time Cafe in New York City. It maintained weekly performances in the city from May 2004 until October 2008, when it began “Mingus Mondays” at Jazz Standard where it alternated with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty. Mingus Mondays became a NYC institution and Monday night stronghold for over 12 years, halted only by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mingus Big Band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has 11 recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammys. RESERVE

BENNY BENACK ||| 11/3 7PM

Benny Benack – Vocals & Trumpet, Holger Marjamaa – Piano, Marty Jaffe – Bass, Curtis Nowasad – Drums

At the age of 27, Pittsburgh-born, New York-based jazz trumpeter & singer Benny Benack III has quickly established himself as one of the most versatile and virtuosic voices of his generation.  Hailed by The New York Times as “a charismatic young trumpeter who maintains an earnest sideline as a singer,” Benack has a knack for delighting audiences with panache, in the spirit of classic crooners like Sinatra & Mel Tormé, with a nod to legendary trumpet showmen Louis Armstrong & Dizzy Gillespie. RESERVE

CORY WEEDS QUARTET 11/5 7PM

Cory Weeds – Saxophone, David Hazeltine – Piano, Neil Miner – Bass, Joe Strasser – Drums

Cory Weeds and David Hazeltine have undeniable musical chemistry. The blend of the nimble, modern touch of Hazeltine and the classic tone of Weeds’s alto are a natural match. Effortless is how it sounds. Both men are studied and accomplished musicians with clear reverence not only for each other, but also the masters of the music. Their latest recording Day By Day spent 21 weeks on the Jazz Week Charts making it as high as #1! RESERVE

KEN FOWSER QUINTET Friday Residency 10PM

Ken Fowser – Saxophone ft. Special Guests Every Friday 

Ken Fowser is the Music Curator for The Roxy Hotel New York, Music Director of The Django, and performs every Friday night on our stage with special guests each week. Since his arrival on the New York scene in 2005, Ken Fowser has continued to steer traditional harmony in uncharted directions. His lyrical approach to line construction and depth of harmonic sensibility allows him to record and play all over the world. A prolific composer, Fowser has celebrated four cooperative releases on Posi-tone Records, co-led with vibraphone virtuoso, Behn Gillece. His debut release as a leader, Standing Tall earned him the #1 spot on Jazz Week Radio Chart seven weeks in a row. Fowser enjoyed both downtown and uptown residencies at iconic New York venues, hosting the session at Smalls Jazz Club every Tuesday for four years and playing the late set at Smoke Jazz and Supper Club every Friday for two years. RESERVE

CHARLES OWENS QUARTET 11/6 7PM

Charles Owens – Saxophone, Miki Yamanaka – Piano, Kris Monson – Bass, Kofi Shepsu – Drums

Charles Owens is a master tenor saxophonist, composer, band leader, recording artist, and educator and has been performing, composing, and teaching for over 30 years. After attending the New School and working as a musician in New York City from 1992 to 2004, he moved to Richmond, VA. Charles is an integral part of the vibrant music scene there and in Charlottesville, VA. He also travels back to New York several times a year to perform at venues such as Smalls, The Django, and others. RESERVE

JOE FARNSWORTH 11/6 10PM

Joe Farnsworth – Drums, Abraham Burton – Saxophone, Davis Whitfield – Piano, Jason Clotter – Bass

One of the most highly regarded jazz drummers on the scene today, Joe is known for his blazing speed, precision, musical, and melodic playing. Upon moving to New York City, he led the weekend jazz combos at Augie’s (now Smoke Jazz & Supper Club). He performed with Junior Cook, Cecil Payne, John Ore, Big John Patton, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson, John Jenkins and his brothers, John and James. Joseph’s career includes recording over 100 CDs as leader and sideman, jazz festivals and world tours with Pharaoh Sanders, Horace Silver, Harold Mabern, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Diana Krall, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Lou Donaldson, Benny Green, Harold Mabern, Barry Harris, Curtis Fuller to name a few. RESERVE

THE PETE MALINVERNI TRIO FT. ANAIS RENO 11/10 7PM

Pete Malinverni – Piano, Anais Reno – Vocals, Ugonna Okegwo – Bass, Aaron Seeber – Drums

Pete Malinverni has been a mainstay on the NYC jazz scene since the early 1980s, his 15 recordings as a leader having received excellent notices and heavy airplay. Originally from Niagara Falls, NY, Pete has shared club bandstands and stages with the likes of Mel Lewis, Vernel Fournier, Joe Lovano, Charles Davis, Gary Smulyan and so many others, adding, in each instance, his own inimitable style, rooted firmly in the tradition yet always reaching for the new thing. RESERVE

JOHNNY O’NEAL 11/10 9PM

Johnny O’Neal is a legendary jazz pianist, having performed both as a leader as well as with luminaries such as: Art Blakey (including a one-year stint as a member of Blakey’s ‘Jazz Messengers’ ensemble), Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Joe Pass, Lionel Hampton, Anita O’Day, Sonny Stitt, Carmen MacRae, Kenny Burrell, Benny Golson, Sarah Vaughn, Wynton Marsalis, and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, among others. He is a NYC institution, having enjoyed residences at Minton’s, Ginny’s Supper Club, Mezzrow, and 10+ years at Smoke. According to San Francisco Classical Voice, “he possesses the buoyant rhythmic feel, open-hearted wit, and twohanded drive that turns up-tempo numbers into rip-snorting adventures and ballads into finely calibrated, self-contained narratives.” Audiences might recognize him from his film appearance in the Oscar winning film Ray where he was cast as Art Tatum. RESERVE

JOE BLOCK TRIO 11/11 7PM

Joe Block – Piano, Felix Moseholm – Bass, Kofi Shepsu – Drums

Pianist and composer Joe Block is a dynamic rising talent in the jazz world. A proud Philadelphia native, Joe has had the opportunity to work and play with Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Leslie Odom Jr., Peter Bernstein, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ari Hoenig, Victor Lewis, Jaleel Shaw, Hannibal Lokumbe, and The Captain Black Big Band. He is an active and versatile sideman in the New York and Philadelphia jazz scenes and leads his own trio and quintet. Hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers,” Joe has been commissioned to write or arrange music for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia. He appears on the 2020 Grammy-nominated record The Intangible Between by Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band. Joe currently lives in NYC where he attends both the Juilliard School and Columbia University. RESERVE

JEFFERY MILLER QUINTET 11/11 9PM

Born and raised in New Orleans by his maternal grandparents, trombonist and singer Jeffery Miller understands that you don’t get to where you want to be without sacrifice. When jazz vanguard Wynton Marsalis hand picked him out of high school to join him at Juilliard, Jeffery knew that he would have to leave his aging grandparents behind to chase his dream in New York. Now 25, Miller has scored three GRAMMY® nominations in 2019 for contributions to projects by Jon Batiste and John Legend. Graduating from Juilliard with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees (in 2018 and 2020 respectively), he’s set on a path to make his mark as a solo artist merging two musical souls. One remains deeply rooted in the melodic jazz trombone that rings closer to home, and the other in his voice echoing the sound of contemporary R&B artists like Ty Dolla $ign and Frank Ocean. Both are intertwined by a tale of two cities and the people in them who make Jeffery Miller who he is today. RESERVE

ED CHERRY 11/12 7PM

Ed Cherry – Guitar, Kyle Koehler – Organ

Ed Cherry is an American jazz guitarist and studio musician. Cherry is perhaps best known for his long association with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he performed from 1978 until shortly before Gillespie’s death in 1993. Since that time, he has worked with Paquito Rivera, Jon Faddis, John Patton, Hamiet Bluiett, Henry Threadgill, and Paula West. He has recorded a number of albums as a leader, his most recent Soul Tree and It’s All Good for Posi-tone Records. RESERVE

JON BESHAY QUARTET 11/13 7PM

Jon Beshay – Saxophones, Willerm Delisfort -Piano, Dylan Shamat – Bass, Curtis Nowosad – Drums

Jonathan Beshay-jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer-says that there’s no agenda when his group takes the bandstand. Fortunately for audiences, Beshay likes to hear good music. After many years of performing and listening, the result is an adaptable, energetic, fearlessly hardswinging sound that pulls from a vast body of musical sources. Beshay has no trouble moving from the street-band wailing of traditional jazz to the intricate post-bop melodies of a Joe Henderson tune. It’s all fair game, “. . . as long as it sounds good!” In addition to his own musical projects, Beshay has also served as musical director for both Winard Harper and his brother Philip Harper through tours at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and the Omani Royal Opera House. He also spent time in New Orleans with Delfayo Marsalis, and has performed with many other masters including Anthony Wonsey, Frank Lacy and Rodney Whitaker. RESERVE