Monks Jazz Club's Upcoming Shows

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Mark Scott Trio!

Mark Scott – Guitar

James Suter – Bass

Daniel Dufour – Drums

Austin-based guitarist, composer, and educator Mark Scott III is a sophisticated voice in the modern jazz guitar tradition, recognized for his "quiet confidence" and "narrative logic" (Brice Boorman). His debut album, Soft Light, reached #60 on the Roots Music Report Top 100 Jazz Albums chart and earned praise from legendary critic Scott Yanow as "a very impressive debut." Grounded in the lineage of Barney Kessel and Kenny Burrell, Scott’s playing balances technical mastery with a "less is more" philosophy. Currently a faculty member at Tarleton State University, Scott holds degrees from the University of North Texas and UT Austin, bridging the gap between jazz heritage and contemporary innovation.

Please Note: This is a live-taping, so we'll be enforcing a whisper-policy! Cold bottles of still and sparkling water will be available for purchase, but this event is BYOB. Ice will be available if needed, wine keys and 9oz cups provided! Doors at 7:15pm, Show at 7:30pm.

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Joel Frahm Quartet!

Joel Frahm – Saxophone

Bruce Saunders – Guitar

James Suter – Bass

Daniel Dufour – Drums

Born in Racine, Wisconsin in 1969, saxophonist Joel Frahm began his musical journey with classical piano and bassoon before switching to tenor saxophone at 14. After his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut, he joined the city’s high school jazz program, where he first met pianist Brad Mehldau. Frahm went on to study at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and later earned a B.A. in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music. Quickly establishing himself in New York's jazz scene, he performed with top musicians including Matt Wilson, David Berkman, Maynard Ferguson, Betty Carter, and Pat Martino.

Frahm has become known for his stylistic versatility, strong improvisational voice, and skill in supporting vocalists. His collaborations span generations, including artists like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ingrid Jensen, Diane Schuur, and Jane Monheit. His 2004 duo album Don’t Explain with Brad Mehldau received critical acclaim for its inventive interplay. Since then, Frahm has released multiple albums as a leader, contributed to over 100 recordings, and played on Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums by Freddy Cole, Dafnis Prieto, and Mehldau. A dedicated educator, Frahm now teaches at Texas State University, where he is developing a sought-after saxophone program.

Please Note: This is a live-taping, so we'll be enforcing a whisper-policy! Cold bottles of still and sparkling water will be available for purchase, but this event is BYOB. Ice will be available if needed, wine keys and 9oz cups provided!

First Show: Doors at 7:15pm, Show at 7:30pm

Second Show: Doors at 9:15pm, Show at 9:30pm

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Bidwell/Mooney Quartet!

Davy Mooney – Guitar

Brian Donohoe – Saxophone

James Suter – Bass

Stephen Bidwell – Drums

About Stephen Bidwell:

Stephen Bidwell was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in the Virginia suburbs. Since first being handed drumsticks in the late 80s he has studied and lived in West Virginia, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and New York but has called Austin, Texas home since 2005. Somewhere in those travels, he earned a Bachelors’s degree in classical percussion (two of them actually) and a Master’s degree in Jazz studies. Since early 2018 he has been the drummer for the Grammy-nominated Black Pumas, a psychedelic soul group known for incendiary live shows. When not on tour with Black Pumas, Stephen plays in several diverse projects (Hard Proof, The Calm Blue Sea, Azmaris, Mood Illusion), works in any genre you can think of as a sideman and teaches lessons at his home studio.

About Davy Mooney:

Davy Mooney is a jazz guitarist from New Orleans, a recording artist for Sunnyside Records, and an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, where he leads the jazz guitar program and teaches advanced improvisation. He has released eight albums as a leader, including Way Back (2022), recorded in Brazil with saxophonist John Ellis and a Brazilian rhythm section. His other Sunnyside releases, such as Davy Mooney and the Hope of Home Band Live at National Sawdust (2020), Benign Strangers (2018), Hope of Home (2017), and Perrier St (2012), often feature esteemed collaborators like Brian Blade, Jon Cowherd, and Matt Clohesy. Mooney has toured extensively across the U.S. and internationally in Brazil, Japan, China, Mexico, Peru, and Myanmar and has authored two instructional books on jazz guitar, Personalizing Jazz Vocabulary (2019) and Into the Labyrinth (2022). He holds a PhD in jazz performance from NYU, with a dissertation analyzing the early 1960s work of Joe Pass.

Mooney placed third in the 2005 Thelonious Monk International Guitar Competition and studied at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, where he worked with legends like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Ron Carter. After earning his Master’s Degree at the University of New Orleans in 2005, Mooney moved to New York City post-Katrina, performing at venues such as the 55 Bar and The Blue Note. He recorded the duo album Last Train Home (2006) with John Pizzarelli and Astoriano (2007) for Japan’s LateSet Records. Also an author, Mooney has self-published two novels: Hometown Heroes (2012) and Annalee (2017).

Please Note: This is a live-taping, so we'll be enforcing a whisper-policy! Cold bottles of still and sparkling water will be available for purchase, but this event is BYOB. Ice will be available if needed, wine keys and 9oz cups provided!

First Show: Doors at 7:15pm, Show at 7:30pm.

Second Show: Doors at 9:15pm, Show at 9:30pm.

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for the Rachel Spencer Quintet!

Rachel Spencer – Trumpet

Jerry Espinoza – Saxophones

Andy Langham – Piano

Liam O’Dell – Bass

Mati Soto – Drums

Austin-based trumpeter Rachel Spencer is known for her expressive tone, stylistic agility, and authentic presence as both bandleader and side musician. She performs regularly in a wide variety of settings in central Texas, and has toured nationally and internationally, most recently holding the lead trumpet chair on the North American Broadway tour of The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy. Her compositional and playing style is a blend of modern groove and post bop tradition, taking inspiration from luminaries such as Blue Mitchell, Kenny Garrett, and Roy Hargrove, her playing being described as soulful and thoughtful.

In addition to performing, Rachel maintains in demand as an educator with a robust private studio and masterclasss schedule, as well as directing local jazz ensembles. Her debut release as a leader “The Next Right Thing” is pending release in early 2027. In 2025, she was awarded the Presser Foundation Award, funding her debut recording, The Next Right Thing, which is pending release.

Please Note: This is a live-taping, so we'll be enforcing a whisper-policy! Cold bottles of still and sparkling water will be available for purchase, but this event is BYOB. Ice will be available if needed, wine keys and 9oz cups provided! Doors at 7:15pm, Show at 7:30pm.

Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert for Christian Wiggs Big Band Comes Home!

Christian Wiggs – Voice

Jakob Hartz – Piano

Marco Antonio Santos – Guitar

Utah Hamrick – Bass

Brandon Guerra – Drums

Saxophones: Seth Carper, Paulo Santos, Russell Haight, John Mills, Aidan Brown

Trumpets: Eric Johnson, Matthew Collins, Jonah Springs, Steve Butts

Trombones: Jacob Martinez, Kevin Hrabak, Aaron Garcia

A true multi-hyphenate, Christian Wiggs is a vocalist, bandleader, lyricist, producer, director, artist manager, educator, record label executive, founder and CEO of Bandstand Presents and host of “Jazz Tonight” on PBS.

Born to a choreographer, Wiggs’ immersion into theatre and the jazz tradition has led to a remarkable career as an artist, leading and featured with ensembles on prolific stages such as Birdland, Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club and SXSW.

Producing chart topping records for the most sought-after names in jazz and reaching millions of viewers with his PBS television show, Wiggs manages 2x GRAMMY and Tony Award-winner Bryan Carter, Emmet Cohen and serves as the musical manager for global icon Jeff Goldblum.

Wiggs has produced major live and studio productions around the world including at Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the In Memoriam performance at the 78th Annual BAFTA Awards.

In 2026, Wiggs created and produced a 57-piece orchestral show with Jeff Goldblum as part of “The Night Blooms World Tour” which is set to tour across nine countries and three continents including Australia, Europe, and North America. The orchestral show will see collaborations with The Metropolitan Orchestra, the GRAMMY-nominated The Heritage Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony.

As an educator, Wiggs is the co-founder and Executive Director of Global Jazz Workshop alongside Artistic Director, Chad LB.

“A tone and delivery akin to Kurt Elling, but with more of a James Moody flexibility.”

- George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

Please Note: This is a live-taping, so we'll be enforcing a whisper-policy! Cold bottles of still and sparkling water will be available for purchase, but this event is BYOB. Ice will be available if needed, wine keys and 9oz cups provided!

First Show: Doors at 7:15pm, Show at 7:30pm.

Second Show: Doors at 9:15pm, Show at 9:30pm.