SAT 8 & 9:30 - Aubrey Johnson w/Tomoko Omura, Alex LoRe, Chris McCarthy, Matt Aronoff, Jay Sawyer,

Aubrey Johnson is a jazz vocalist working in New York City’s small-room tradition, often appearing at venues like Bar Bayeux. She leads a sextet that brings together improvisers including Tomoko Omura, Alex LoRe, Chris McCarthy, Matt Aronoff, and Jay Sawyer, with a repertoire shaped by contemporary jazz and freer forms.

Tomoko Omura is a composer and violinist. Named #1 Rising Star Violinist by Downbeat Magazine’s Critics Poll in 2021, she has released five albums as a leader. Her latest album, “Branches Vol. 2” (Outside In Music, 2021) was named Bandcamp’s “Best Jazz of 2021”.

LoRe is making the connections among about 70 years’ worth of contemplative, articulate and light-toned players, people who can find the emotional node of a ballad where modesty turns nearly to shame, and also locate a single, fine, well-placed note through abstraction or understatement: Johnny Hodges, Lee Konitz, Mark Turner.

Chris McCarthy is a New York City–based jazz pianist whose work moves between straight-ahead swing and freer, open-form playing. He appears regularly at Brooklyn rooms including Bar Bayeux, where he has performed in small-group settings alongside vocalist Aubrey Johnson and instrumentalists Tomoko Omura, Alex LoRe, Matt Aronoff, and Jay Sawyer.

Matt Aronoff is a New York City–based jazz musician whose work moves between straight-ahead language and freer forms. He appears at Bar Bayeux, including sets with the Sami Stevens Band alongside Jacob Drab and Peter Moffett.

Jay Sawyer is a New York City–based drummer working in jazz and freer improvised settings, often heard in small-group lineups around Brooklyn. At Bar Bayeux, he’s appeared with violinist Tomoko Omura alongside pianist Glenn Zaleski and bassist Pablo Menares, and with vocalist Aubrey Johnson in a sextet including Alex LoRe, Chris McCarthy, and Matt Aronoff.