Oscar Peñas Quartet

Often working with unorthodox instrumentation, in this case violinist Sara Caswell, bassist Moto Fukushima, and drummer Richie Barshay, he doesn’t blend disparate influences so much as stitch them together with an internal emotional logic. Peñas established himself a vital new voice in New York with two critically hailed albums, most recently 2014’s Music of Departures and Returns featuring Gil Goldstein, Paquito D'Rivera, and Esperanza Spalding. His latest project Almadraba, which was inspired by the ancient sustainable fishing practices in Andalusia, features bass legend Ron Carter, and premiered in 2018 at the BAM Next Wave Festival. A major league talent with a capacious musical imagination, Peñas embodies the limitless promise of jazz’s global reach.