IS JAZZ DEAD?
MUSIC FESTIVAL
IF JAZZ WERE EVER IN QUESTION, BROOKLYN JUST ANSWERED
New Jazz Underground, the Juilliard-born trio opened the BRIC JazzFest with precision and joy.
This mid-October, BRIC House in Brooklyn became the epicenter of a living conversation — two nights of fearless performances, cross-cultural encounters, and community grounded in sound. BRIC JazzFest 2025 was more than a festival; it was a reminder that jazz continues to breathe, shift, and speak in new languages without losing its depth.
BROOKLYN, By Pablo Herrera
The weekend began on Friday with Artists in Action, a panel that set the tone for everything that followed. Moderated by artist and organizer Niama Safia Sandy, the discussion featured Vuyo Sotashe, Samora Pinderhughes, and Sarah K. Khan, each exploring the intersections of jazz and activism. They spoke about resilience, experimentation, and how art responds to a world in flux. It wasn’t just a conversation about music — it was about urgency, purpose, and the creative act as a form of resistance.
The first evening’s performances opened with Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall, a South African–American collaboration built on intimacy and improvisation. Their duets balanced precision with emotional vulnerability, echoing gospel roots and chamber-jazz subtleties. Then came Adrian Younge, the festival’s guest curator and multi-instrumentalist provocateur. Behind him, a massive sign read “JAZZ IS DEAD.” The statement drew laughter from some, curiosity from others — but the performance that followed was anything but lifeless. Younge’s set, raw and unpredictable, turned that phrase into a challenge: if jazz ever dies, it’s only because it refuses to stand still.
Adrian Younge live at the BRIC JazzFest 2025.
Saha Gnawa followed with a hypnotic fusion of North African tradition and New York experimentation — trance-like rhythms colliding with improvisational freedom. The night closed with Meklit Hadero, the Ethiopian-American vocalist and composer whose ethio-jazz sound is both elegant and radiant. Her performance brought warmth and reflection, rounding out a night that felt as global as it was local — a mirror of Brooklyn’s own rhythm.
Saturday carried that same sense of movement. New Jazz Underground, the Juilliard-born trio of Abdias Armenteros, Sebastián Ríos, and TJ Reddick, opened with precision and joy, their chemistry as sharp live as in the viral videos that made them a YouTube phenomenon. Endea Owens & The Cookout followed, infusing the stage with Detroit soul and collective energy. Owens — mentored by jazz greats Marcus Belgrave and Ron Carter — has become one of the most vital emerging voices in contemporary jazz, known for turning the stage into a classroom of joy.
Endea Owens & The Cookout live at the BRIC JazzFest 2025.
Then came Nubya Garcia, whose music defies boundaries. Her sound — expansive, orchestral, and deeply personal — moves between jazz, dub, and R&B, dissolving categories with every phrase. OKAN, the Afro-Cuban duo of Elizabeth Rodríguez and Magdelys Savigne, continued that conversation, bringing a fearless mix of Yoruba spirituality, Afro-Latin rhythm, and contemporary jazz. Singing in Spanish, Yoruba, and Spanglish, their set felt like both celebration and invocation.
Nubya Garcia live at the BRIC JazzFest 2025.
The festival closed with the JazzFest Jam, led by Adrian Younge and Detroit drummer-producer Karriem Riggins — a kinetic, open-ended session where musicians traded grooves and ideas in real time. It was a collective exhale after two days of deep listening.
By the end of the weekend, BRIC JazzFest had proven once again that jazz is not a relic — it’s a force. A language of migration and improvisation that continues to evolve with every city, every player, every listener.
No, jazz isn’t dead. It’s just evolving — right here in Brooklyn.
🎥 Watch more highlights and performances from BRIC JazzFest 2025 in our curated YouTube playlist.
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