Jazz Trios in Austin, Texas

Born out of a love for jazz, Big Wy's Brass Band brings a frenetic party wherever they play. The band performs at iconic Austin, TX venues such as Antone's Nightclub and Continental Club. They have also represented the United States at International jazz festivals in Guatemala and Costa Rica. The band plays an eclectic mix of traditional New Orleans standards and funky originals. Whether it's at a second-line wedding overlooking Lake Austin, Jazz festival in Antigua Guatemala, or a rocking house party, Big Wy's aims to invite the listener on a wild ride through its brassy confections and irresistible grooves! OUR STORY Big Wy's Brass Band was born 03/01/2014 at The Historic Scoot Inn in Austin, TX opening for The Austin Samba School for Brazil Day/Mardi Gras Celebration. The band was comprised of current West Lake High School students that played together in the jazz ensemble and marching band. After an overwhelming victory at their high school battle of the bands, they knew they had something special. Big Wy's went on to release their debut single "Cane Sauce" on SoundCloud. April 2015, Big Wy's Brass Band participates in its first ever HONK!TX Brass Band Festival. IG WY'S GOES TO COLLEGE. . .After most the band decided to attend The University of Texas at Austin they decided to keep the project going soon after leading to wide popularity across the UT campus music scene. In 2017, Big Wy's Brass Band Wy's made its first international debut by representing the United States at the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (IGA) 2017 International Jazz Festival in Guatemala. The band toured the country giving performances and hosting jazz workshops in Guatemala City and Antigua. As one of the youngest performers to ever be featured at the festival, Prensa Libre poll the public and concluded the band as the second most popular group to perform that year amongst participants from all over the world. IGA Jazz Fest was quickly followed by the band's selection for the 2017 CR Promising Artists of The 21st Century Tour of Costa Rica. Over the course of the tour, Big Wy's was hosted by Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano (CCCN) and performed around the country, with the additional honor of playing for President Luis Guillermo Solís as featured guests at the annual Afro Descendants Day parade in Puerto Limón. February 2018, their debut EP "The Portal To Funkville EP" on all major streaming platforms. Containing only original works, the EP featured solos from all 9 members of the band. Recorded in a tiny guest house, the record showcases the bands high school roots as well as its jazzier compositions. The title track "Valhalla" is the bands most streamed song. The new record led to many exciting developments throughout 2018 with the band performing along side the world-renowned Preservation Hall Jazz and Blue Lab Beats for SXSW18 as well as featured performers on TEDxYouth@Austin. August 2019, the band was invited back as CR Promising Artists of The 21st Century Tour of Costa Rica. During this tour the band had the privilege of performing at the US Ambassadors residence for 30 of Costa Rica's Ambassadors to the world and UN. The band had the honor to perform the Afro Descendants Day parade for Vice President Marvin Rodríguez Cordero. April 2019 marked the release of "Lord Dope EP" on all major streaming. This record included the addition of keys as well as a more experimental sound. Inspired by the works of contemporary brass bands such as NO! BS and The Huntertones, this record explores a more hip hop vibe. The new record led to many exciting developments with the band performing along side Big Sam's Funky Nation, Ike Stubblefield, and Walter "Wolfman" Washington. The Austin Chronicle's annual Austin Music Awards honored Big Wy's Brass Band as "Best Horns" for 2019 with a performance at the prestigious ACL Moody Theater. 2020 started as a very promising year for the band having already been invited to perform at the SXSW Music Festival for the 3rd consecutive year, and having prospects to tour more internationally. March 2020 the world stood still as the COVID-19 pandemic cut off all live music. During the years 2020-2021 Big Wy's seldom performed live so in an effort to still make music The Quarantine Sessions were born. A series of videos stitching together everyones individual recorded parts from across the country so that we could still make music together as a band. This was a time of songwriting, reflection, and bringing in new prospectives to the band. "Do Travel" was released in May of 2020 as a collaboration with Austin, TX rock band, Night Cap. "Big Wy Was Here" was released in August 2021 as a collaboration with Austin, TX beatboxer and rapper, Ben Buck. "Pillow Talk" is is an original composition the features long time friend of the band Marcus Cardwell on the tenor saxophone

Mauricio Callejas is a singer-songwriter from El Salvador, based in Austin TX for the last twenty years. Mauricio has released 7 solo albums: "Cosas de la Calle" in 2002, "Mágico" in 2008, "Helado pop" in 2012, later in 2016 he released the EP "Preámbulo", his fifth album was "Crisis" released in 2020, "Veinte" in 2022 and the latest "Trópicos" in 2024 His music is an evolution of Latin American "Nueva Trova" fused with contemporary and Latin American rhythms. Mauricio has performed in different stages of Latin America, the United States, Canada and Spain. Mauricio is also the founder of the first author's music directory in Central America called www.centroamericanto.net, he has produced a radio program and podcast dedicated to Central American music. The experience with the centroamericanto.net portal was the seed of a cultural project called Centroamericanto Fest, which is a Central American music festival that for over 15 years has brought Central American music to Austin TX.

Margaret Slovak is a guitarist and composer. Born in Denver, CO, Margaret moved to Austin, TX in 2012 from NYC. Margaret received a BFA in jazz music from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. Her original instrumental music blends jazz, classical and world music styles; she also plays jazz standards., bossa nova and jazz/blues. Margaret has released 5 CDs: 4 featuring her original compositions and one Christmas/Winter Solstice album. She has performed throughout the US, Canada and Europe, and her music has received extensive national and international airplay. Her compositions have also appeared in several documentary films. In addition to public performances, Margaret plays for patients in hospitals, hospice and cancer treatment centers. Margaret was also included in jazz journalist Scott Yanow's 2013 book "The Great Jazz Guitarists: The Ultimate Guide" and was nominated in the "Best Jazz" category in the Austin Chronicle Music Awards in 2023.

Jessica Healey is an Austin-based indie folk-rock artist and full-time musician. She is the songwriter, bandleader, guitarist, and vocalist of her indie-pop band, which showcased at the 2024 South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival. Combining soulful vocals, jazz harmony and subtle rock textures, she’s been compared to artists such as Madison Cunningham, Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, and Corinne Bailey Rae. Jess performed an official showcase at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in 2024. Her debut EP is set to release in May 2025, and her newest single "You Poor Thing" is available now for streaming. She is a regular performer at Monks Jazz Club, the Elephant Room, and has a Saturday night residency at Jupiter Supper Club.

Original and experimental, Muthabug is a collective born from medicinal music mantras. Blending elements of jazz, hiphop, and soul, the collective brings together a groove based sound steeped in ancient traditions. "What kind of music do you hear when you get real quiet? That's where these tunes come from." Aimed at soothing the soul, communing with the present moment, and finding peace within the fabric of human existence. With bold, diverse rhythms and honest lyrical execution, the foundational duo of Muthabug, Michael Longoria and Noa Belillti, invite listeners to release convention and find deeper meaning beyond the mundane. Themes from passion to protest can be found woven into their pieces, while expansive genres including Jazz, Hip/Hop, and World music accentuate their mission to maintain raw performances that emulate the human condition.

If you are out among the neon signs of Austin's vibrant nightlife and you happen to see the name "Pendulum Hearts" glowing on the marquee, forget whatever else you may have planned for that night and scoot your honky-tonkin' butt into that venue. Night after night, the group tears through a hip-shaking, two-stepping triple-shot of Western Swing, Jazz Manouche and Rockabilly. The hard-hitting band consists of Chase Risinger (guitar & vocals) Tony Perez (fiddle) Josh Hoag (doghouse bass) Jake Harrel (lead guitar) & Tyler Irvine (drums). Since the tender age of 13, Chase Risinger has been charming audiences with his eccentric song-writing and creative guitar-playing. Navigating a diverse terrain of genres, he writes about everything from extraterrestrial love to cheap beer and Buddhism. With his contagious rhythms and imaginative melodies, he has carved out a unique sound to go along with his quirky crooning. Tony Perez graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in musical performance and then proceeded to blaze his way into the Austin music scene. He is a furiously talented violinist who consistently works the crowd up into a frenzy with his lively and exhilarating solos. His expert playing seamlessly weaves from western swing to classical motifs, from red hot jazz to country fiddling. Ludwig Van Beethoven once said "To play a wrong note is insignificant, to play without passion is inexcusable." This is the essence of the only rule in the Pendulum Hearts; never phone it in, leave it all on the stage and everyone walks away a sweaty mess. Whether you catch these hard-hitting cats at a swanky nightclub, a sweaty honky-tonk or a backyard BBQ, you're in for an energetic evening of whimsical song-writing, spirited solos, slap happy upright bass, and powerful urge to grab your partner and cut a rug.

Anthony Basini's music is at once familiar and, yet, brand new — his lyrics deeply personal but universal in their secrets. If you've seen Anthony play in concert with one of his many bands you know his dexterity on guitar, both electric and acoustic, and you know he can belt a hard rock sound whether singing back-up or lead. But Anthony's heart shines through when he introduces you to his quieter side, the crooner, the balladeer, the bluesman. When Anthony settles in with his guitar, the world slows down and the cacophony of life fades to the background. He is sharing a piece of himself with his audience in his words and with his instrument. Clearly comfortable in his vocal range, his voice has echoes of James Taylor and John Mayer, while his smooth guitar licks drop hints of The Dave Matthews Band and Steely Dan's jazz-rock combo. As a lyricist, Anthony turns emotions into words and offers them up to share, revealing himself while also revealing a bit of the listener to themselves. Every line has meaning and in the chorus one can find universal meanings. As a true musician, Anthony goes beyond scale boxes and muscle memory to find the melody in his head; he plays that, all the while tapping time with his foot and imagining the chord progression, the band, behind him. "Music," he says, "is communication with greater context." And communicating with song is what this young man is all about.

ABOUT STEVEN HUSTED Steven began his musical journey at the ripe old age of 6. From there he was always involved in everything musical from school band to private instruction to playing local parties for friends. At age 15, Steven moved from CT. to San Francisco, where he jumped head first into the study of jazz. By the time Steven was 23, he was one of the top call bassists in the San Francisco Bay Area, including 6 years teaching at the acclaimed Stanford Jazz Workshop. Steven has played with many jazz greats including Kenny Burrell, Billy Higgins, and Vince Wallace. Now residing in Austin, TX, Steven remains an in demand bassist/composer and band leader. Follow him on Facebook for info on upcoming shows and recording releases.

Paula Maya is an award winning Brazilian pianist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter and recording artist, nominated Best Brazilian Musician living in the US. Her new release New Perspective (Re-Mastered) is available now in all major digital platforms, officially released October 20th 2021 on Yellow House Records, re-Mastered by Grammy Nominated sound engineer Nick Landis. Listen and find all links now at https://paulamaya.hearnow.com/new-perspective-re-mastered On April 30th 2021 she released the bossa nova single Corcovado (Ao Vivo) with an online concert celebrating International Jazz Day. The single was recorded live in Austin, TX, mastered by Grammy Nominated sound engineer Nick Landis. Listen and find all links now at https://paulamaya.hearnow.com/corcovado-ao-vivo ​Paula Maya has released ten albums, and have songs in several compilations with artists such as Jimmy Cliff. She holds a degree from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music in Rio de Janeiro. Her compositions have roots in Brazilian traditional rhythms and melodies, such as maracatú, baião and samba. They are also inspired and influenced by bossa nova, jazz, blues, Cuban music and African music. Her 2019 single 'Refugee' is featured in the compilation 'No More Silence Vol 2, Austin Musicians For Transformative Justice' 2020, with artists such as Shinyribs, Jackie Venson and Atash. Her song 'Wish You Were Here (Christmas Eve)' is featured in the compilation 'Holiday Haam Jam Benefit Album' 2012, including bands such as Asleep At The Wheel and Carolyn Wonderland. Leyla Aksu from KUTX 98.9 writes “Keyboardist, singer and songwriter Paula Maya creates sophisticated and soothing melodies.” Her band was nominated in the Top Ten Best World Music Bands in the 2014 and 2015 Austin Chonicle Music Awards. Maya is from the South Zone of Rio, the birth place of Bossa Nova and Antonio Carlos 'Tom' Jobim, composer of Girl From Ipanema. As a young woman she was lucky to have as mentors giants of Brazilian music such as Baden Powell, Luizinho Eça, and later Teo Lima. She recalls getting up at dawn when she was just four years old, while the family was still asleep, to listen to her mom's vinyls of classical music. 'It would always overcome me with emotion and make me cry.' She was always playing a small electronic keyboard her mom gave her, and at ten years old started formal classical piano lessons. Fast foward three years, at a friend's place she witnesses a young man improvising on the piano. 'How do you do that?' she asked. From that day forward she would not look at the piano the same way. One year later at a high school music festival contest, she won three awards with the band she was performing with: Best Arrangement of a Song, Third Place on Best Song, and an honorary award for Best Musician created for her during the event. After being accepted into the Federal University of Music for Classical Piano, she started studying Jazz, Harmony and Bossa Nova with the great pianist and arranger Luizinho Eça, composer of The Dolphin. 'My boyfriend at the time was the one who suggested I go study with Luizinho. I was so nervous, I almost canceled my first lesson!' She studied with Eça for two years, and he became one of her most important mentors, often calling Paula 'Geniozinho' (Petite Genius). Paula Maya released her first album New Perspective on Wow Mom Records in 1995, a label in Houston, where she lived for four months after moving from Brazil, before heading to Seattle where she lived for many years. While in the Northwest she started her own record label Yellow House Records and her publishing company Palavras e Sounds, BMI, after the title track of her self released Resurrection First 1/2 was featured in the movie The Learning Curve. Paula Maya released four more albums with her Seattle band, performed all over the Northwest and was voted Best Brazilian Songwriter by the Seattle Weekly. A strong influence in Paula's music is the eclectic community of musicians from all over the world that she is a part of. Different genres inspire fresh music blends. Besides leading her own groups, Paula has performed with dozens of bands in a variety of music styles, from the legendary jazz /swing /MPB Orquestra Tabajara in Brazil, led by the great Severino Araújo, to the Seattle Medieval Women's Choir, led by the great Margriet Tindemans. She was a member of the Seattle based band Kalass for fifteen years, led by her friend singer, songwriter, guitarrist Ganga Clamoungou, from Chad, Africa. Paula has shared the stage with artists such as Caetano Veloso, Leila Pinheiro, Djavan, Vinicius Cantuaria, Teo Lima and Batacoto, Cyril Neville, Tab Benoit, Mitch Watkins and The Presidents of the United States of America. Paula Maya is also a music educator and has been teaching private lessons in classical piano technique, harmony, music theory and improvisation for thirty years. In addition, she was invited to teach music workshops at the EMP Museum in Seattle (Museum of Pop Culture.) Currently she is a Show Director and also teaches piano, voice, music theory and songwriting workshops at Austin School of Rock (Anderson Lane). Paula Maya holds a degree in Music Theory from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music, and a degree in English language from Cultura Inglesa. Maya has also dedicated time and energy to community service and considers herself an activist. She volunteered for over ten years with the Seattle Red Cross as an After Hours On Call Portuguese interpreter, and worked for fifteen years as a Portuguese interpreter in the Court System. For twelve years she co-hosted the weekly Brazilian radio show Raizes on KBCS 91.3 Seattle/ Bellevue College Radio, raising awareness of Brazilian music in the Northwest and beyond. Born Paula Burle de Niemeyer, her family names have made a strong mark in the world, mostly in architecture. Oscar Niemeyer was the architect of Brazil's capital, Brasilia, and his structures can be found in many parts of the world including United Nations Building in New York City and Orly Airport in Paris. He was a cousin of Paula's father. Roberto Burle Marx, a cousin of Paula's mother, was a landscape designer whose work include Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Copacabana beach promenade in Rio de Janeiro and Longwood Gardens, in Pennsylvania. He was one of the first Brazilians to speak out against deforestation. His brother Walter, however, was a composer and pianist. In 1931 he founded the Rio de Janeiro Philharmonic and conducted numerous premieres with this orchestra, among them, the first South American performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In 1947 Walter Burle Marx was appointed Artistic Director of the Rio de Janeiro Opera. In 1949 he left Brazil in order to become a permanent USA resident and devote himself entirely to composition. Paula's father, Luiz Carlos Niemeyer, was a lawyer. He passed away in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro. 'My dad loved the beach and was always in Ipanema as a teenager. He told me he would always see Tom Jobim there, and that suddenly one day he disappeared. Of course now we know why. Tom was creating one of the most influential music styles of all time!' Paula's mother, Maria de Lourdes Pereira Carneiro Burle, created her own version of yoga mouvements mixed with classical dance principles, and taught group and private lessons for many years. She passed away in 2020 in Rio de Janeiro.

Dan Peters was born and raised in coastal Massachusetts. He moved to Austin in 2020 to pursue dual passions as a musician and an environmental scientist. Formally trained in jazz piano, he plays keys with several Austin groups including Nossas Novas, a Brazilian bossa nova and tropicalia band. As a songwriter, Dan gravitates towards his folk and Americana influences (Wilco, John Prine, and Big Thief to name a few), weaving memorable melodies with thoughtful lyrics that convey a knack for finding meaning in everyday observations. Dan’s 2023 Ocean and the Wind EP is a fitting debut showcasing Dan’s ability to tell emotional stories full of natural imagery.