New Jazz Underground

New Jazz Underground is an innovative trio merging traditional jazz with hip-hop, pop and Afro-Latino influences. The Juilliard graduates went viral during lockdown with living room performances, building 100k+ YouTube subscribers and earning the 2023 DCJazzPrix Winner title.

Abdias Armenteros (saxophonist/composer, 26), Sebastian Rios (bassist/composer, 29) and TJ Reddick (drummer, 26) have each been lauded as some of jazz’s most promising young artists. After meeting at The Juilliard School, the trio began playing in NYC parks during lockdown in 2020, shortly launching their YouTube channel that features videos like “they can hate but we still swingin’” and “fk/st/c**t/jazz.” Their releases including “MF Doom Suite,” “Harlem to Havana” and “cook/swing/work/relax” demonstrate reverence for jazz icons while establishing their own voice.

Armenteros is the youngest member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Rios, a 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award Winner and longtime student of Ron Carter, was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write a suite for the trio. Reddick and Rios have performed as sidemen for Jon Batiste, Sullivan Fortner and Emmet Cohen. The group has performed at major festivals including Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Jazz BRNO. They were recently featured on NPR Music for “Oney Ones One,” the opening track from their forthcoming album Hoodies, creating new standards for jazz presentation through seemingly clickbait videos that deliver authentic musical expression to non-traditional jazz audiences.

New Jazz Underground also performs at the SJZ Break Room Stage on Friday, August 7 at midnight.