Jeb Bishop Quintet

BlueStem Jazz.

media release: Jeb Bishop, trombone and compositions - Russ Johnson, trumpet - Mai Sugimoto, alto saxophone and flute - Jason Roebke, bass - Isaiah Spencer, drums

The Jeb Bishop Quintet is the logical continuation of the progression that began with the Jeb Bishop Trio in the 1990s and evolved into the Jeb Bishop Quartet in the 2000s. These ensembles were all formed as vehicles for Bishop’s writing relating to the jazz tradition.

With Bishop’s absence from the Chicago scene from 2012 to 2022 and the geographical separation of the musicians, performances became infrequent, but after his return to Chicago in 2022, the new quartet – now with Spencer on drums, following Frank Rosaly’s move to Amsterdam – played a very successful set at the 2023 Chicago Jazz Festival, inspiring Bishop to revive the project and expand it to a quintet with the addition of Mai Sugimoto, one of Chicago’s most exciting newer players, on alto saxophone and flute.

The band’s current repertoire includes material from the 2019 Quartet CD, Re-Collect (Not Two Records), adapted for the quintet lineup, and new material composed for the new configuration, heading towards a next recording in 2025 or 2026.

www.jebbishop.com