The Red Room at Cafe 939

You can find Julius Rodriguez in many places. You could walk into a packed jazz haunt and witness him behind the piano with energy practically surging from his fingers through the room. You might scroll up on social media and catch him alternating from drums to bass to guitar at the speed of a jump cut. You may also step onto festival grounds and see him solo or accompany another like-minded visionary on stage, jamming like his life depends on it. No matter where, the New York-born and Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer electrifies any lane. By doing so, he also transcends perceived boundaries between genres and styles, redefining the music to mirror his fluid creative inclinations and delivering a sound that's solely his alone.

Following widespread applause from The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The FADER, and more, collaborations with everyone from Wynton Marsalis to A$AP Rocky, and tens of millions of streams, he grows in as many directions as possible on his second full-length offering, EVERGREEN.

 

Rodriguez has established himself as a highly sought-after collaborator — whether on piano, drums, synths, or bass. You could hear him loud and clear on recordings from Carmen Lundy, Lackecia Benjamin, Brasstracks, Kassa Overall, Baby Rose, Joe Farnsworth, Cautious Clay, Ian Isiah, and Braxton Cook. Moreover, he has shined on stage with the late Roy Hargrove, Remi Wolf, Dev Hynes, Lauren Spencer-Smith, Macy Gray, Kurt Elling, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Morgan James, and Cautious Clay, to name a few. 

By breaking boundaries with EVERGREEN, Rodriguez has lived up to the true spirit of jazz by ushering it toward the future freely. "I hope you hear this and forget about the whole genre labeling thing," he leaves off. "This is just music you can dance to, feel to, and think to. It's not about categorizing; it's about enjoying something for what it is. EVERGREEN goes through a whole bunch of genres, but this is the world I'm seeing and hearing. This is the feeling I'm invoking. I made a statement and said, 'The genre is just me.'"