On July 10, The Jazz Gallery will set you on your heels with the melodic percussive sounds of multidisciplinary tap dancer and improviser Melissa Almaguer. She will interact with an enthusiastic ensemble of free navigators: DoYeon Kim on gayageum, pianist David Virelles, flutist Samantha Kochis, bassist Henry Fraser, animation Jan Suphitcha, and design assistance Andrea Almaguer, Cala Cano Rangel.
“I am so excited to be putting on my very first multimedia show, ‘Alebrijes!’ at The Jazz Gallery. It’s a project close to my heart, blending live scores with animated film,” said Almaguer.
Besides her projects as a bandleader and soloist, Almaguer has collaborated with such creative minds as Moor Mother, Irreversible Entanglements, William Parker, Luke Stewart, and Elio Villafranca to a later generation of tap innovators such as Dormeshia, Derick K. Grant, and Jason Samuels Smith.
Tap shoes are an instrument when on the correct feet. Tap dancing is boundless; the moves at times can be insanely acrobatic, crazy melodic, a percussive instrument at best. The Nicholas Brothers provided audiences with the most astounding acrobatic tap routine to Cab Calloway’s “Jumpin’ Jive” in the 1943 film “Stormy Weather.” Such tap excursions can be described as jazz improvisation or an avant-garde odyssey never to be seen again or duplicated.
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., James “Buster” Brown, Sandman Sims, and Charles “Honi” Coles pioneered the art of tap dancing. A new generation of hoofers, including Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, Savion Glover, and Maud and Chloé Arnold (sisters), concentrated on introducing another stylistic form and sound to tap dancing.
Born and raised in Mexico, now residing in Brooklyn, Almaguer is currently the bandleader of several improvisation collectives, including praesēns, Angel of Air/ Angel of Water, and Melissa Almaguer Trio. Melissa’s work thrives on a shared commitment to pushing boundaries and exploring new forms of creative expression, in the tradition of her elders and ancestors. Be prepared for an exciting journey in the world of tapology. Two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Visit jazzgallery.org for more info.
Most adventurous jazz souls can be found on the Lower East Side, usually performing at the Arts for Art Vision Festival or some out-of-the-box venue offering daring music to spark, maybe shock, the listening buds. The tenor saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis is one of those cats when he isn’t busy touring the European scene.
Fortunately, before he jets off to distant lands, you can witness the combustive syntheses of his quartet on June 30 through July 5 at the Village Vanguard, the storied basement jazz club with the loud red door.
Lewis will be joined by his longtime artistic innovators: pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Chad Taylor. The quartet has been performing and recording together since 2020, always shaping music in new forms with outrageous sounds. Be ready for a musical trip, a blast, something dancing on the edge of the galaxy.
Lewis obviously defies all borders as his 20 albums and still counting suggest. He was a brilliant contributing member as part of the Polish group, the Lutosławski Quartet (2022), blending classical string movements with jazz improvisation, performing in Poland and NYC’s Dizzy’s. In 2025, he released two albums with this working band: “Apple Cores #1” (Anti-) and “Abstractions is Deliverance” (Intakt); and in 2026, “Deface the Currency” with his other working band, The Messthetics.
After graduating from Howard University, Lewis focused on gospel music, which wasn’t a surprise, having come out of the church tradition and working under gospel singers Albertina Walker and Dorinda Clark-Cole. Lewis brings his gospel roots to the improvisational stage on his second album “Divine Travels,” later on his “Jesup Wagon” (a tribute to George Washington Carver), and his later 2023 album “Mahaila with Love,” both recorded with another of his groups, Red Lily Quintet. Lewis keeps evolving in new directions; the fun of jazz is its constant evolutionary changes. For reservations, visit villagevanguard.com.
Pianist and composer Esteban Castro caught my attention sometime last winter, while performing with Russell Hall’s band at The Jazz Gallery. It was his unorthodox style that demanded my attentiveness, his dexterity, the way his fingers danced up and down the ivory keys. His hand movements reminded me of the legendary Thelonious Monk, whose fingers seemed to move independently.
Castro, moving from sideman to leader, arrives at The Jazz Gallery on July 9 for one night only. The young pianist will have much to present as he performs original tunes from his book of over 40 compositions, which he’s been writing since an early age, starting his piano lessons at age three.
Still in his teens, he was commissioned for a big band arrangement by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for the Thelonious Monk 100th Birthday Celebration in 2018. Esteban recently graduated from Juilliard School with a Bachelor of Music in 2024. The following year, he was the winner of the 2025 Gilmore Festival Bell Young Jazz Award.
His young career has just left the launching pad like a comet in mid-sky, so much for him to accomplish in real time as audiences watch on the edge. For tickets, visit jazzgallery.org.
On July 11, Vanisha Gould brings humor, swing, and a bluesy soul to each song with vivid storytelling that becomes immediately addictive, all yours for the taking at The Jazz Gallery, two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Featuring music from the evolving in “The Margins” songbook, including the newly released single “My Sweet Kitty,” this performance offers a glimpse into Gould’s expanding creative universe and her forthcoming album, “What An Interesting Girl.” She will be accompanied by bassist Charles Lincoln, drummer Samuel Bolduc, and special guest dancer TBA.
Vocalist, composer, and writer Vanisha Gould presents “In The Margins: The Vanisha Gould Songbook,” an evening of original music, movement, and storytelling inspired by the songs, essays, poems, and reflections that live between the notes. When not singing her originals or reshaping standards, she’s busy revitalizing those gems just outside the road of well-traveled songs with her own enticing stamp.
Three days of eclectic jazz illuminating from all directions, thanks to the gallery’s imaginative artistic director, Rio Sakairi. Her musical antenna draws fearless artists playing on the outskirts of the moon, looking to push further where music is the soul substance of life never-ending, always groovin’. For all three shows, visit jazzgallerry.org.
Salsa Meets Jazz: The Music of Hector Lavoe & Frankie Ruiz with special guest saxophonist composer Vincent Herring, arrives at Dizzy’s Salsa series on July 14, two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Celebrate the rich intersection of Latin and jazz traditions with “Salsa Meets Jazz,” a bi-monthly series honoring the legendary NYC scene where jazz greats would join salsa bands for unforgettable jam sessions. Curated by Carlos Henriquez and his Latin Jazz Initiative, each performance highlights the vibrant, global community that fuels this music, where rhythms collide, cultures connect, and every note invites you to move.
The series harks back to those days in Edenwald projects when dancing salsa was all the rage, the East Bronx the home to Jerry and Andy Gonzalez, where they, along with teenagers like Nanney Grant, Marcelus Jones, Melvin Grant, and Moe, played congas every Sunday in the big park, decked out in red shirts and black pants. The Bronx was for us the home of Salsa, dancing at the Carlton Terrace, Concourse Plaza, Savoy Ballroom, Park Terrace, and traveling downtown to the Corso and Manhattan Center. If you didn’t have a Pacheco, Alegre All-Stars, or Eddie Palmieri album under your arm, you could get a beat down. That’s how serious salsa was in the Bronx. For reservations, visit jazz.org.
Album of the Week: Archie Shepp and Jason Moran, “Let My People Go” album of the (Their first duo album, 2021).
