Onyx Collective’s New York City Jazz Odyssey


Onyx Collective, outside Warsaw, December 8, 2017 (L to R) Austin Williamson, Julian Soto, Jack Gulielmetti, Isaiah Barr, Julius Rodriguez, Nick Hakim, Felix Pastorius
"There used to be a club on 51st Street and Lexington Avenue owned by a Japanese gentleman who would greet music fans at the door. The club, which closed last week, was called Somethin’ Jazz, and in 2014 it was the place to see Onyx Collective, at the time a fresh-faced ensemble of young musicians making a name for themselves. You could catch the group on a Saturday night or maybe a Wednesday, depending on the month. Onyx performances were known for being experimental — the group could play an evening of free-form jazz or something soulful laced with soothing vocals, but no one set or lineup was the same. One night they could be a bebop trio, and the next they might blossom into a six-headed funk-soul colossus. With each performance, the group transformed the seemingly conventional space into something new and exciting. The crowds they drew were often an unusual assortment of folks — downtown art types, hip-hop heads from the outer boroughs, hype beasts, straightlaced jazz dudes. In other words, a variety of people not typically found at a jazz spot on the east side of midtown. ..."
Voice (Video)
ONYX Collective Is Injecting Jazz Cool Into N.Y.C.’s Downtown Scene
Discogs
Lower East Suite Part Two (Audio)
YouTube: 'Fruit Stand', "East River", "Color Images", 'Snake Charmer', The Mask, Steam Rooms,

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