Black Cat's Upcoming Shows

Tickets: $20 , $30 , $40 , $50 (price includes $5.50 processing and ticketing fee) 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 9:15 show: Bar @ 6:00, Doors @ 8:30 The NYC-based “Alex Weitz Group” are known for their strong group dynamic, exciting interpretations of standards, and captivating memorable original compositions blending straight ahead jazz with modern, classical, and contemporary influences. Across the span of over a decade they have recorded five albums, including their recent release “Rule of Thirds” on Outside in Music as well as “Live at the Black Cat”. For this residency they will be focusing on new music from their upcoming album due in late 2026. Bandleader Alex Weitz won second place in the Michael Brecker International Saxophone Competition, has won two ASCAP Herb Alpert Composer Awards, and was a recent finalist in the DCJazzPrix. Alex has performed at esteemed venues and jazz festivals around the world including Dizzy's Club, Tucson Jazz Festival, Red Sea Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Smalls Jazz Club, Birdland Jazz Club, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Jazz Standard, South Beach Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, and the Jazz Showcase. “It is impossible not to be knocked out by the sheer creative firepower of Alex Weitz.” - The Jazz Word Band Lineup: Alex Weitz - tenor saxophone Tal Cohen - piano Ben Tiberio - bass Michael Piolet - drums 

Tickets: $15.50 - $25.50 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 Midweek just got a whole lot deeper. JaZzLine INSTITUTE presents The Soul Sessions: an electrifying live music series bringing the Bay Area’s finest to the stage at Black Cat every Wednesday night, March through May. Experience world-class musicianship up close in an intimate setting where jazz, soul, gospel, funk, and R&B collide. Seats are limited. The vibe is undeniable. Make your reservations now while supplies last. The $10 cash tickets are available at the door based on availability. Tarus Mateen is one of the more sought-after acoustic and electric bassists on the jazz scene. He has also made his mark with a variety of R&B and hip-hop artists, as both a bassist and a producer. A graduate of Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Mateen worked for several years down South. Relocating to New York in 1988, he scored the dream gig of many young jazz musicians: a spot in Betty Carter’s band. He also worked with trumpeter/film composer Terence Blanchard on the score for the Spike Lee film Malcolm X, as well as the Malcolm X Jazz Suite. Mateen’s R&B and hip-hop credits include such notable acts as Monica, Outkast, Goodie Mob, the Roots, Fugees, De La Soul, and Fishbone. On the jazz side, he performs and records most regularly with pianist Jason Moran & The Bandwagon. He also works with vocalist Faye Carol, pianist Marc Cary, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, as well as the New Directions band, which includes Harris, Greg Osby, Jason Moran, and Mark Shim. The Soul Sessions at Black Cat Where groove meets spirit. Where legends and rising stars share one stage. Where Wednesday nights feel like church for music lovers. Supported by a Culture Forward grant from The Svane Family Foundation Band Lineup: Tarus Mateen, bass Marvin 'Smitty' Smith, drums Joe Warner, piano 

Tickets: $20 , $30 , $40 , $50 (price includes $5.50 processing and ticketing fee) 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 9:15 show: Bar @ 6:00, Doors @ 8:30 San Francisco-based bassist, trombonist, composer, and arranger Leela Paymai (ZHENIIA) grew up steeped in the sounds of Persian Pop music—Googoosh, Marjan, Dariush—before landing in the Bay Area and diving headfirst into the tangled, boundary-less world of modern jazz. What emerged is ZHENIIA: a genre-blurring, emotionally charged project that filters ancestral memory through a contemporary lens. ZHENIIA’s music is a collision of identities and histories, layered with microtonal scales, hip-hop rhythm, and psychedelic textures. Bass-driven and politically pointed, the songs reach across genre and geography, weaving oud melodies and Persian folk motifs through thick, improvisatory grooves. The band’s ever-shifting lineup reflects the fluidity of its sound—one show might feature electric violin, the next trombone—but there’s always a core of rhythm, synthesis, and soul. “I take a lot of inspiration from my grandparents and parents,” Paymai says, “who, despite surviving the Iranian revolution, always found time to make music. That spirit—of resilience, of beauty in chaos—fuels everything I do.” ZHENIIA premiered in February 2025 with a sold-out debut at San Jose Jazz’s New Works Festival, backed by a dynamic band of Bay Area collaborators including Chili Corder on oud, Julian Lopez on synths, and drummer Jaycie Grady. Press coverage quickly followed, with features in Mercury News, East Bay Times, and Mission Local. While no official releases have dropped yet, ZHENIIA is just beginning. These are songs for survival, movement, and deep feeling—music to grieve to, dream through, and rise with. Stay tuned. Band Lineup: Leela Paymai - bass Julian Lopez - piano Chili Corder - oud Allison Irvine - violin Rabiah Kabir - flute Jaycie Grady - drums 

Tickets: $20 , $40 , $50 , $60 (price includes $5.50 processing and ticketing fee) 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 9:30 show: Bar @ 6:00, Doors @ 8:45 Trumpeter, vocalist, and percussionist Pete Rodríguez, featured on three Grammy-winning records, commands the stage with fiery energy and masterful artistry. He’s collaborated with legends like Tito Puente, Branford Marsalis, and Eddie Palmieri. His original compositions highlight his incredible technique and sound. With a bold, modern jazz style, his work is narrative-driven and timeless. Rodriguez has family roots in Latin jazz, he played classical music with the symphony orchestra in Puerto Rico and pursued his DMA in Jazz Performance. "These varied experiences help explain music that is not only instrumentally ferocious, but texturally rich and at times, profoundly intimate." - Downbeat. Rodríguez’s latest release, I’m Pete Rodríguez, Volume 1, is a stunning showcase of heritage, rhythm, and innovation. Praised NYT "he takes to the trumpet like a conguero, belting out fierce, percussive patterns...", Rodríguez delivers a performance that’s passionate, profound, and unforgettable- not to be missed! Esteban Castro is a Brooklyn-based pianist and composer born in 2002. Esteban started playing piano at age 3, and quickly started improvising and composing at a young age. Esteban furthered their studies in both jazz and classical music privately with teachers including Fred Hersch and Phillip Kawin, and by participating in many high school programs such as the Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Jazz House Kids. In 2020, Esteban started studies at the Juilliard School on a full tuition scholarship, and graduated with their Bachelor of Music in 2024. Since moving to New York, Esteban Castro has performed nationally and internationally as a leader, and as a sideman for bands led by artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Drummond, Francesco Cafi so, Peter Evans, Joe Farnsworth, Giveton Gelin, Russell Hall, Harish Raghavan, and Ben Solomon, among others. In 2016, Esteban was the youngest-ever fi rst prize winner of the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition. Later, they were selected as a finalist for the 2023 American Piano Awards, and is a winner of the 2025 Gilmore Festival Bell Young Jazz Award. Quickly becoming a fixture in the New York Jazz scene, Jon Beshay has proven himself to be a skilled and versatile instrumentalist, performing with a variety of musicians such as jazz titans Ron Carter, Eric Reed and Christian McBride, ensembles such as the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Roy Hargrove Big Band and even with playwright Taylor Mac. Often featured on multiple instruments, his ability to transition between multiple instruments has added to his flexible nature as a performer. Originally from southeast Michigan, Beshay’s musical interest first manifested itself while hearing musicians from Detroit’s vibrant jazz scene. Detroit would go on to play a pivotal role in shaping his musical style during his early education as an artist. One can hear the driving hard bop style and blues that is quintessential to the Detroit jazz aesthetic. He has served as musical director for both Winard Harper and Philip Harper, providing arrangements and compositions to both bands that have become lasting contributions to each band’s repertoire. He also served as composer and musical head for the off-Broadway production, (a) Loft Modulation. Written by Jaymes Jorsling and directed by Christopher McElroen, the music added a “vital burst of inspiration” to the production. Currently residing in Brooklyn, Beshay leads his own band performing original works, with regular appearances as both a leader and sideman at NYC venues including Smalls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ornithology and Birdland. He is a graduate of Michigan State’s Jazz Studies program and holds a masters degree from Manhattan Schools of Music. Band Lineup: Pete Rodríguez, Trumpet/ Voice Esteban Castro, Piano Jon Beshay, Sax Nico Martinez, Bass Francisco Alcala, Drums 

Tickets: $20 , $40 , $50 , $60 (price includes $5.50 processing and ticketing fee) 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 9:30 show: Bar @ 6:00, Doors @ 8:45 Trumpeter, vocalist, and percussionist Pete Rodríguez, featured on three Grammy-winning records, commands the stage with fiery energy and masterful artistry. He’s collaborated with legends like Tito Puente, Branford Marsalis, and Eddie Palmieri. His original compositions highlight his incredible technique and sound. With a bold, modern jazz style, his work is narrative-driven and timeless. Rodriguez has family roots in Latin jazz, he played classical music with the symphony orchestra in Puerto Rico and pursued his DMA in Jazz Performance. "These varied experiences help explain music that is not only instrumentally ferocious, but texturally rich and at times, profoundly intimate." - Downbeat. Rodríguez’s latest release, I’m Pete Rodríguez, Volume 1, is a stunning showcase of heritage, rhythm, and innovation. Praised NYT "he takes to the trumpet like a conguero, belting out fierce, percussive patterns...", Rodríguez delivers a performance that’s passionate, profound, and unforgettable- not to be missed! Esteban Castro is a Brooklyn-based pianist and composer born in 2002. Esteban started playing piano at age 3, and quickly started improvising and composing at a young age. Esteban furthered their studies in both jazz and classical music privately with teachers including Fred Hersch and Phillip Kawin, and by participating in many high school programs such as the Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Jazz House Kids. In 2020, Esteban started studies at the Juilliard School on a full tuition scholarship, and graduated with their Bachelor of Music in 2024. Since moving to New York, Esteban Castro has performed nationally and internationally as a leader, and as a sideman for bands led by artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Drummond, Francesco Cafi so, Peter Evans, Joe Farnsworth, Giveton Gelin, Russell Hall, Harish Raghavan, and Ben Solomon, among others. In 2016, Esteban was the youngest-ever fi rst prize winner of the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition. Later, they were selected as a finalist for the 2023 American Piano Awards, and is a winner of the 2025 Gilmore Festival Bell Young Jazz Award. Quickly becoming a fixture in the New York Jazz scene, Jon Beshay has proven himself to be a skilled and versatile instrumentalist, performing with a variety of musicians such as jazz titans Ron Carter, Eric Reed and Christian McBride, ensembles such as the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Roy Hargrove Big Band and even with playwright Taylor Mac. Often featured on multiple instruments, his ability to transition between multiple instruments has added to his flexible nature as a performer. Originally from southeast Michigan, Beshay’s musical interest first manifested itself while hearing musicians from Detroit’s vibrant jazz scene. Detroit would go on to play a pivotal role in shaping his musical style during his early education as an artist. One can hear the driving hard bop style and blues that is quintessential to the Detroit jazz aesthetic. He has served as musical director for both Winard Harper and Philip Harper, providing arrangements and compositions to both bands that have become lasting contributions to each band’s repertoire. He also served as composer and musical head for the off-Broadway production, (a) Loft Modulation. Written by Jaymes Jorsling and directed by Christopher McElroen, the music added a “vital burst of inspiration” to the production. Currently residing in Brooklyn, Beshay leads his own band performing original works, with regular appearances as both a leader and sideman at NYC venues including Smalls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ornithology and Birdland. He is a graduate of Michigan State’s Jazz Studies program and holds a masters degree from Manhattan Schools of Music. Band Lineup: Pete Rodríguez, Trumpet/ Voice Esteban Castro, Piano Jon Beshay, Sax Nico Martinez, Bass Francisco Alcala, Drums