A Season to Remember: Looking Back at JAZZ ROOM Season 23
Every season at the JAZZ ROOM, we set out to do something simple but ambitious: bring world-class jazz to an intimate room in the heart of Charlotte and make every night feel like something you’ll never forget. Season 23 delivered on that promise and then some.
From a Grammy winner’s emotional homecoming to a New Orleans-style holiday celebration, from tap dancing through the legacy of Dizzy Gillespie to a Valentine’s evening of timeless love songs, this season reminded us why live jazz in a room this close to the music is unlike anything else.
Here’s a look back at the seven unforgettable weekends that made Season 23 one for the books.
October- Luther S. Allison Quartet: The Homecoming
We opened the season with a story that could only happen at JazzArts Charlotte. 
Luther S. Allison first walked into a JazzArts classroom as a student, a kid from Charlotte with a gift for music and a fire to learn. Fast forward to October 2025, and that same kid returned to the JAZZ ROOM stage as a Grammy Award-winning pianist who has performed on the Grammy stage alongside Samara Joy, toured internationally with the Count Basie Orchestra, and been commissioned by Wynton Marsalis to compose for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. DownBeat gave his debut album 4.5 stars, calling him “a pianist who seems to have no weak points.”
But none of that mattered as much as the fact that he was home. The “Homecoming” weekend wasn’t just a concert, it was proof that the education mission at the heart of JazzArts Charlotte is producing artists who are shaping the future of jazz on the world’s biggest stages. If you were in the room that weekend, you felt it.
November- Edmar Castañeda Quartet: The Instrument You Never Saw Coming
If you told someone you were going to see a jazz harpist, you’d probably get a puzzled look. If you told them after the show what you just witnessed, you’d struggle to describe it. 
Colombian-born Edmar Castañeda has single-handedly cemented the harp’s place in jazz. A Latin Grammy nominee who has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Béla Fleck, Sting, and Paquito D’Rivera — and contributed to the soundtrack of Disney’s Encanto — Castañeda doesn’t just play the harp. He juggles lead, rhythm, and bass lines simultaneously without ever losing the groove. NPR’s Fresh Air called his technique “the real astonishment,” and one NPR Tiny Desk producer said it best: “My brain cracked open when I first saw this.”
The JAZZ ROOM was the perfect setting for it. In a room that intimate, you could see every finger, hear every harmonic, and feel the collision of Bogotá folk traditions with modern jazz in real time. For many in the audience, it was their first time seeing a jazz harp performance. For all of them, it was unforgettable.
December- Preservation Hall Legacy All-Stars: A New Orleans Christmas
Our holiday show has become what we love to call the best new holiday tradition in Charlotte, and December 2025 might have been the best one yet. 
The Preservation Hall Legacy All-Stars brought the spirit of New Orleans straight to Uptown Charlotte for a celebration of music, tradition, and holiday joy. If you’ve never experienced a New Orleans-style Christmas, picture this: second-line rhythms, brass-fueled holiday classics, and the kind of joyful energy that makes strangers feel like family.
The weekend also featured our annual Silent Holiday Auction, with incredible items including vacation getaways, sports tickets, original artwork, and more, all supporting JazzArts Charlotte’s education programs. Two sold out shows, and the energy in the room was electric from the first note to the last. This is the weekend people are already asking about for next year.
January- Sean Jones’ Dizzy Spellz featuring Brinae Ali: Jazz Meets Dance
January brought one of the most unique and talked-about shows in JAZZ ROOM history. 
Trumpeter Sean Jones, a former lead trumpeter of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and one of the most respected voices in modern jazz, brought his Dizzy Spellz project to Charlotte, a celebration of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie’s music and spirit. But what made this weekend truly special was Brinae Ali.
Brinae is a tap dancer, and she didn’t just perform between songs, she was woven into the music itself, trading rhythms with the band, responding to solos with her feet, and turning the stage into a conversation between brass and tap. The audience loved every second of it. And the buzz from that weekend carried well into February.
February- John Pizzarelli Trio: Valentine’s Day at the JAZZ ROOM
Some weekends are made for a specific show, and Valentine’s Day at the JAZZ ROOM with John Pizzarelli was one of them. 
The Grammy-nominated guitarist and vocalist brought his trio to Charlotte for a weekend of American standards and classic jazz love songs, the kind of music that fills a room with warmth and makes two hours feel like a perfect evening. Pizzarelli’s charm, his effortless guitar work, and his ability to connect with an audience made every show feel personal and intimate.
All four performances were completely sold out, couples filled every table, and more than a few told us it was the best Valentine’s date they’d ever had. When the music, the occasion, and the room all come together like that, you remember why the JAZZ ROOM exists.
March- Monika Herzig’s SHEROES: Celebrating Women in Jazz
Women’s History Month called for something bold, and Monika Herzig’s SHEROES answered. 
Dr. Monika Herzig — pianist, composer, bandleader, scholar, and Vice Rector at Jam Music Lab University in Vienna — brought her all-female international ensemble to the JAZZ ROOM for a weekend that celebrated the women who have shaped jazz from its earliest days. The interplay was electric, the solos were fearless, and the musicianship was undeniable.
But the weekend was about more than the Friday and Saturday night shows. On Saturday morning, JazzArts hosted Jazz Girls Day — a free workshop for middle and high school girls led by members of SHEROES. The young musicians got to learn from, play with, and be inspired by world-class artists who look like them. It was one of the most powerful moments of the entire season, and a reminder that the JAZZ ROOM stage isn’t just about performance — it’s about passing the music forward.
April- Wallace Roney Jr. Quartet: The Miles Davis Centennial Celebration
We closed out Season 23 with a special bonus show that felt like destiny. 
2026 marks the centennial of Miles Davis — arguably the most influential musician in the history of jazz. To honor that milestone during Jazz Appreciation Month, we brought in Wallace Roney Jr., the son of the late jazz luminaries Wallace Roney and Geri Allen. His father was the only trumpet player Miles Davis ever personally mentored, and that lineage runs deep in every note Wallace Jr. plays.
Growing up in a home filled with jazz, Roney Jr. received his first trumpet from his father at age 10 and went on to study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He’s since performed alongside Chick Corea, Jimmy Heath, Lenny White, Buster Williams, and the late Ornette Coleman. At the JAZZ ROOM, his quartet explored the timeless music of Miles through a fresh, modern lens — honoring the master while bringing his own fearless voice to the tradition. It was the perfect way to close a season built on legacy, artistry, and the belief that jazz is a living, breathing art form.
Thank You, Charlotte
Season 23 was seven months of world-class music in a room where you could feel every note. It was a Grammy winner coming home, a harpist redefining what’s possible, a New Orleans Christmas, tap shoes trading fours with a trumpet, love songs on Valentine’s Day, women blazing trails on stage and in the classroom, and a centennial tribute to the greatest to ever do it.
None of it happens without you, the audience that fills these tables, the parents who enroll their kids in our programs, the donors and subscribers who make this mission possible.
The 2026-27 season is coming. And if this season was any indication, you don’t want to miss what’s next.
See you at the JAZZ ROOM.