Latino-American pianist combines the dynamic freedom of jazz with the subtleties of classical art music: a sophisticated interplay of the familiar and the unexpected.

All guests, staff, and performers must show proof of vaccination or produce a negative test result within 72 hours of entering to be admitted to a show.

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Joshua Espinoza leads his trio in the group's BOP STOP debut! Tickets to attend in person are $15 each. The show will also be livestreamed on BOP STOP's Facebook page at showtime. Accessing the stream is free but donations are encouraged and can be made at www.givebutter.com/Espinoza

Featuring:

• Joshua Espinoza, piano
• Kris Monson, bass
• Jaron Lamar Davis, drums

Possessing a wide color palette, the Joshua Espinoza Trio explores shimmering harmonies and shifting orchestral contours with the aesthetic of a chamber ensemble as much as a jazz trio. Influenced by artists as disparate as Herbie Hancock, bassist Avishai Cohen, Gerald Clayton, and composer Maurice Ravel, the Joshua Espinoza Trio takes listeners on a journey for the ears and mind alike. Through their genre-bending approach to songwriting, they've built a cross-generational audience of diverse backgrounds bound together by their love of good music. Their debut album "Journey Into Night" was released in June 2019

Navigating a fine line between two cultures is nothing new for American pianist and composer Joshua Espinoza. As the son of a Mexican immigrant father and rural Appalachian mother, the pull of multiple distinct identities has always been a reality for him. “Growing up Latino in the American South," says Espinoza, “I felt like I had to navigate social situations carefully, even within my own family.” He recounts moments when someone would make derogatory generalizations about Mexicans, then qualify it with ‘but, you’re not really a Mexican.’ “Let’s just say I learned how to swerve in and out of various identities quickly, so I wouldn’t feel ostracized.” In this day of heightened divisiveness, Espinoza believes creating art is one important way of bridging the gap.

In his music, one can hear Espinoza swerving between identities. “I feel like my playing inhabits the space between jazz and classical music. I’m enamored with composers like Debussy, Ravel, Chopin, but crave the freedom of Art Tatum and Bill Evans.” As a pianist, Espinoza is particularly adept at switching seamlessly from shimmering impressionism to virtuosic outbursts akin to Chick Corea or Keith Jarrett, whom he cites as major influences. In sound, as in life, Espinoza has learned to adapt to situations on the fly, making for enthralling music on the bandstand. What’s the place of an artist in this increasingly chaotic social landscape? According to Espinoza, “music is one of the few things that can bring people together, despite our differences. If my songs can quiet a listener’s mind for just a moment, and allow these perceived distinctions to drip away, then I’ve achieved my goal as an artist.”

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Joshua Espinoza: With a style that is tastefully modern yet firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, Latino-American pianist Joshua Espinoza blends and bends genres into original compositions and arrangements that are immediately relatable, yet hard to define. Recently, Joshua has performed alongside such notable artists as Warren Wolf, Sean Jones, Damien Sneed, Todd Marcus, Jerome Jennings, Paul Bollenback, Miho Hazama, Alex Norris, John D’earth, Mike Pope, Kris Funn, and Chuck Redd. A finalist in the 2018 Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition and current faculty member of the renowned Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, his playing has been heard on stages large and small including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Blues Alley, The Jazz Kitchen, The Kennedy Center, the Barns at Wolftrap, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the DC Jazz Festival. His debut album‟Journey Into Night" – released in June 2019 – is available on all platforms. To read and hear more, visit www.joshuaespinoza.com.