Alan Jones Social Music

Thu, Sep 11

$25 TICKETS | ALL AGESSocial Music: Noah Simpson - Trumpet Leon Cotter - Tenor Matt Sazima - Piano Garrett Baxter - Bass Alan Jones - Drums, Composer Social Music is built on a simple truth: we’re all in it together. The band doesn’t just play at people—they play with them. Every show is a conversation, a risk, a leap. The musicians listen as much as they lead, and the audience? They help steer the whole damn ship. At the center of it all is drummer and composer Alan Jones, joined by four of Portland’s most electrifying young players: Noah Simpson on trumpet, Leon Cotter on tenor sax, Matt Sazima on piano, and Garrett Baxter on bass. These aren’t hired hands—they’re fearless collaborators, in it for the feeling, the surprise, the realness of the moment. Alan says it best: “Musicians can’t do it without the listener, and the listener’s got nothing to listen to without the music. In a live performance, we work together—what the audience brings has a huge influence on what the musicians deliver. When we play, every listener knows they’re part of the creation.” The band just spent a long weekend in the studio putting down all original compositions, never before recorded, but tested and stretched over countless live shows. These are pieces the band knows deep in their bones. The melodies and forms are so ingrained that they can approach them like standards—free to explore, improvise, and take chances. That’s what you’ll hear tonight.