Continuing the Legacy of WUSF Jazz
Celebrating Florida Jazz
JAZZ ON ARTS AXIS FLORIDA celebrates Florida's rich jazz history and the large community of musicians and venues that make live performances possible by continuing WUSF Jazz's 56-year legacy: showcasing the best of live, local jazz through providing digital resources and advertising opportunities to jazz musicians, organizations, and venues throughout Florida.
Recent Studio Performances
Bela Souza is a seasoned singer living in St. Pete, FL. She has been performing in the Tampa Bay area since 2011. Bela studied Musical Theatre at the University of Tampa, which led her to pursue a career in music and vocal coaching. Her sultry, soulful sound and Brazilian roots have influenced her love for singing jazz and Bossa Nova. Bela will be releasing a jazz EP early next year. Follow her on Instagram at @belassings to stay updated.
Charlee Loyst is a pianist from St. Pete Beach, FL. Influenced by Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, Charlee Loyst has developed a sound that combines his classical background with his passion for jazz to craft musical ideas and share his story. He currently studies at Berklee College of Music and is majoring in Performance.
Established in 2022, Sokołowski Trombone Project is a Trombone Band made up of 4 trombonists and 3 rhythm section players. The band’s goals consist of promoting innovative arrangements for the trombone of popular jazz standards, while also aiming to contribute original and modern music in various styles. STP recently won the International Trombone Association’s "Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition" as well, where the group was given a featured performance at the International Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City.
Spoken Word Poetry Performances
Nicole has always had a love for writing and especially poetry, one she has only expanded on through high school and college. Inspired by lyricists, other poets, and the natural world, she commonly writes about internal and external struggles and how language shapes our understanding of ourselves. For more of her work, check local literary magazines and community poetry events in the St. Pete area, where she appears regularly.
Ty Scott King is an award-winning, multi-Billboard charting poet and hip hop artist and a best-selling author. Ty has successfully showcased her poetic talent on the National Poetry Slam level and hosted both an internationally aired TV show and her own radio show. Learn more at tyscottking.com.
Dorrian Tyrell Bridges (born April 2nd, 1997) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bridges gained distinction and acclaim for his hybrid style that combined his unique spoken word delivery, pained lyrics, and dark classical production. As an entrepreneur, Dorrian Bridges and his Wife founded The Lindsay School of the Arts, a private performing arts school dedicated to providing high-quality arts education programming at no cost, ensuring complete accessibility to children and families.
Latest News
The Pacific Northwest has become something of a hotbed for great new jazz music in recent years, with the region producing forward-thinking artists and records at a seemingly improbable rate. Bill Anschell, one of the most talented pianists working in today’s scene and a Seattle native, was not someone known to rock the boat: previous albums such as Rumbler and Blueprints operated within the existing bounds of mainstream acoustic jazz, filled with technically gifted playing but did not aim to reinvent the wheel. Improbable Solutions, Anschell’s best release to date, changes all that.
GIVEAWAY ALERT! Calling all jazz lovers! @wusfjazz is giving one lucky winner a GIANT gift basket of Jazz CDs to help celebrate the 1 Year Anniversary of Jazz on Arts Axis Florida. We've pulled from the giant selection of CDs from the @wusfpublicmedia jazz library.
The Instrument of Hope Discussion and Concert - Gun Violence Discussion in St. Pete, FL - Jazz Music
The Warehouse Arts District Association, in collaboration with the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association, EMIT, Arts Axis, 7C Music, and Jazz on Arts Axis Florida hosted an important roundtable discussion on gun violence and a paired concert that featured the Instrument of Hope. The 2-part event took place at 7C Music and the ArtsXchange Outdoor Theater, located at 515 22nd Street South, St. Petersburg, on Friday, November 3, 2023, from 6:30 PM to 9 PM. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch made a special appearance and gave a short speech.
Travis Van Bumble and Stephanie Ruscito are The House Cats: a husband and wife, guitar and vocals duo, playing straight ahead-jazz, bebop, and swing. Travis and Stephanie grew up near Clearwater, and have been playing music together for over ten years. Travis’ walking baselines and chord melodies give The House Cats a big, swinging sound, but as soon as they play a ballad you’ll feel the mood shift, and see the two’s chemistry shine. The House Cats pull inspiration from many of the greatest names in American jazz including Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and Sarah Vaughan. Their repertoire consists of timeless tunes from The Great American song book; the pair hopes to breathe new life into these songs with original and inspired arrangements.
Jeremy Carter is a true study of Jazz music, Nebraska native, and understudy of the Southeast’s best professors and musicians. Jazzy funk riffs, screaming over the sounds of the BSP is truly a spectacle, for the ears and the eyes. If you find yourself stop dancing in a dropped draw fashion, it is probably because of Carter’s riffs, his soul pouring over the speakers like sand. Carter has recorded with numerous national acts and has performed, recorded and produced solo albums and cameo appearances too many too list.
Born and raised in Leawood, Kansas, Angelus Matthew C. Roxas began playing piano at the age of three, and after a couple of years, he studied under Ms. Ying-Yu Emily Yeh. He began competing at a young age, and his passion and determination led him to perform four times at Carnegie Hall in New York, an invitation to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, and a performance at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Teatro Studio, in Rome, Italy. He obtained a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance Degree in 2022 at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory where he studied under Dr. Thomas Rosenkranz. Matthew is currently studying under Dr. Svetozar Ivanov as he pursues a Master of Music in Piano Performance Degree at the University of South Florida with an accompanying assistantship. Matthew teaches as a piano instructor at the USF Community Music Project.
Jazz Album Reviews
The Pacific Northwest has become something of a hotbed for great new jazz music in recent years, with the region producing forward-thinking artists and records at a seemingly improbable rate. Bill Anschell, one of the most talented pianists working in today’s scene and a Seattle native, was not someone known to rock the boat: previous albums such as Rumbler and Blueprints operated within the existing bounds of mainstream acoustic jazz, filled with technically gifted playing but did not aim to reinvent the wheel. Improbable Solutions, Anschell’s best release to date, changes all that.
Vocal jazz has been on the wane in recent years - as contemporary musicians veer either towards the bleeding edge of avant-garde jazz or the J Dilla-inflected stylings of jazz rap, the moody vocalists and smooth records that once were the standard bearers of popular jazz music fade from view in a genre that seems increasingly unfriendly to the music of Mel Tormé, Dinah Washington and ol' Blue Eyes himself.
If it sounds like drummer John Bishop and pianist Bram Weijters are playing like their hair's on fire, in a way, they are - Bishop, Weijters and bassist Piet Verbist made yearly trips to the Belgium city of Antwerp, using their time in the city to record, jam and play over a hundred shows as a trio that overflows with effortless chemistry. The COVID-19 Pandemic changed that with strict international travel restrictions meaning the three friends couldn’t make their usual trip to the city on the Scheldt.
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