Reno Jazz Festival: Joel Ross + Manzanita Quintet

Vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross takes the stage alongside the University's faculty jazz ensemble, the Manzanita Quintet as they kick-off the 2023 Reno Jazz Festival. Joel Ross continues refining an expression that's true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer issued his anticipated Blue Note debut, Edison Award-winning record KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim, followed by his 2020 release Who Are You? which features his band Good Vibes at their most synchronous. New York Times critic Giovanni Russonello praised the album for the ways it "speaks to a new level of group cohesion...more tangle, more sharing, more possibility." Considered one of the most creative and distinctive jazz ensembles in the northwestern United States, the Manzanita Quintet features pianist Adam Benjamin, Saxophonist Peter Epstein, bassist Hans Halt, drummer Andrew Heglund and trumpeter Josh Reed. Each of these dedicated instructors maintains a busy individual performance schedule while forming the core of the University of Nevada, Reno's Program in Jazz and Improvisational Music.