Every summer I celebrate my birthday with a concert of my friends from the jazz world. This July is no exception. Here are two of my favorite humans and awesome musicians. Join us for cake and jazz:)

The New York Times has pinpointed a “feeling for a rugged but jaunty experimentalism” in the music of trombone veteran Joe Fiedler, a figure as esteemed in New York jazz circles as he is in the Afro-Caribbean and pop scenes. He’s an adventurous improviser and bandleader whose recordings range from solo trombone (The Howland Sessions) to quintet (Like, Strange) to trombone/tuba quartet (Big Sackbut, Sackbut Stomp, Live in Graz — “the intersection of gutbucket blues and avant-garde audacity,” JazzTimes) to chordless trio (The Crab, Sacred Chrome Orb, I’m In, Joe Fiedler Plays the Music of Albert Mangelsdorff).

Fiedler’s two Sesame Street-themed albums to date, Open Sesame and Fuzzy and Blue, pay homage to the beloved children’s show where Fiedler has worked as a music director for nearly 15 years. With bold and inventive arrangements of timeless music by Joe Raposo, Jeffrey Moss and more, Fiedler grapples with the legacy of the storied show of which he’s become an integral part. Fuzzy and Blue, opined London Jazz News, is “unnervingly satisfying — hitting a note between scripted nostalgia and improvised jazz that [is] both exciting and comforting at the same time.”

Erik Lawrence has toured the world as a saxophonist, flutist and composer. He currently performs solo and with his own group, Erik Lawrence Trio and Hipmotism and co-leads a band with his Jazz vocalist sister, Marya Lawrence, featuring Cameron Brown on bass and Ben Perowsky on drums.

Erik has often been found support of a wide variety of legendary artists, counting his time with masters from many genres as part of his foundation, among them:  American music masters: Levon Helm, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Sharrock, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Miles, David Amram, Henry Butler; from the Spiritual music world Yungchen Lamo, Nawhang Khechog, Gabrielle Roth. He has gratitude for a more than 20 year association with modern jazz master Steven Bernstein and has played and recorded with Spin Doctors, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket, Roger Waters, Joan Osborne, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Aaron Neville, Big Chief Russell Moore, The Levin Brothers (Tony Levin and Pete Levin), and with the Jose Limon Dance Company.  In addition Erik has worked with tea masters playing Tea Ceremony meditation music.