Event Details:

Award-winning saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis, a Jazz Generations Initiative (JGI) Continuum Fellow, presents Thru Line, a three-night residency at Roulette as part of his 2026 fellowship. The series brings together improvisers, poets, musicians, and multidisciplinary artists from across media and generations.

This evening’s performance will feature a series of solo sets by James Brandon Lewis, flutist/composer Nicole Mitchell, cellist/vocalist Janel Leppin, singer/producer Jenna Camille, trombonist/composer Kalia Vandever, Grammy-winning sound chemist Val Jeanty, transdisciplinary artist Shara Lunon, and pianist/composer Alexis Marcelo.

Presented by the Jazz Generations Initiative in partnership with Roulette.

Tenor saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis has emerged as a leading figure on the improvised music scene in New York City and across the world. The winner of seven DownBeat magazine awards (including “artist of the year” in the 2025 critics’ poll), and a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship, Lewis has led ensembles on some of the most prominent stages across the world, from the Village Vanguard to the Bimhuis Muziekgebouw. He has received accolades from The New York Times, NPR Music and countless other outlets. The late Sonny Rollins once told Lewis, “When I listen to you, I listen to Buddha, I listen to Confucius… I listen to the deeper meaning of life. You are keeping the world in balance.” Lewis relocated to New York City in 2012, and since then he has become known as one of the leading figures on the scene, uniting his background in gospel and jazz with an interest in Western classical music, hip-hop, punk rock, other music traditions from around the globe, and art forms outside of music. His celebrated projects include the James Brandon Lewis Trio, the American Book Award-winning Heroes Are Gang Leaders, the Red Lily Quintet, and his ongoing collaboration with the Messthetics, which has yielded two critically acclaimed albums on Impulse! Records. Lewis, who recently earned a PhD in Creativity from Rowan University in New Jersey, also works across mediums as a writer and poet.