Stephan Crump’s Passerine

Stephan Crump’s Passerine brings Grammy-nominated bassist and composer Stephan Crump together with a new quartet for music inspired by the many ways birds build their nests. The program draws from the group’s new body of work and the album *Passerine*, which is scheduled for release on Out of Your Head Records on October 23.

Crump, a New York-based bassist, composer, bandleader, educator, and longtime collaborator, performed for two decades as part of Vijay Iyer’s acclaimed trio. The quartet also features drummer and percussionist Ches Smith, Cuban-American saxophonist and woodwinds player David Leon, and Brooklyn-based trumpeter and composer Kenny Warren.

When: Saturday, November 21, 2026

Showtimes: Doors open at 7:00 PM, with music beginning at 7:30 PM. The event is scheduled to run until 10:00 PM.

Tickets: $25–$30

Venue: Rhizome DC

Lineup: Stephan Crump on acoustic bass; Ches Smith on drums and percussion; David Leon on alto flute and saxophone; and Kenny Warren on trumpet.

Music: The performance presents a new set of compositions shaped by bird nest-building techniques and the quartet’s collaborative approach.

Stephan Crump: Originally from Memphis and based in New York City since 1994, Crump has worked across jazz and other musical communities as a performer, composer, soloist, educator, and bandleader. He spent 20 years recording and touring with Vijay Iyer’s trio and teaches a course called “On Magnetism,” focused on deeper musical connection through an instrument. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and collaborator, singer Jen Chapin, and their two sons.

Ches Smith: A Sacramento native now based in New York, Smith is a drummer, percussionist, composer, bandleader, and ensemble curator. He has released nine records under his own name and has collaborated widely since the early 2000s. He is also a dedicated student and performer of Haitian Vodou drumming, working in religious and folkloric settings in New York and Haiti for the past decade.

David Leon: Leon is a Cuban-American saxophonist, woodwinds player, composer, and improviser living in Brooklyn. His work explores vitality through autonomy, contradiction, exaggeration, and humor. He was a 2025 Jerome Artist Resident at Roulette Intermedium, received a 2024 Music Composition Fellowship from the CINTAS Foundation, and was commissioned by Roulette to create *A Divine Echo*, a hybrid chamber-music and nonverbal puppet-theater work.

Kenny Warren: Born in Denver and based in Brooklyn since 2006, Warren is a trumpeter and composer whose more than a dozen recordings span multiple genres while retaining a strong improvisational focus. He is a longtime member of the Brooklyn brass band Slavic Soul Party and recently released an album with his trio Sweet World, featuring Christopher Hoffman on cello and Nathan Ellman-Bell on drums.

Album: *Passerine* is due October 23 on Out of Your Head Records.

Ages: No age restriction is listed.

Accessibility: No accessibility information is provided.