Bowlus & Ricci - The Music of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn at Blue Jay Listening Room

Doors at 7. Show at 8. Seating is first come first served. Ages 18+.

Tickets increased by $10 at the door.

This creative duo explores the works of beloved composers and musical legends through the lens of an intimate dialogue between two instrumentalists. Pianist Joshua Bowlus & saxophonist John Ricci have had a longtime musical connection spanning over two decades, most often playing in larger bands together. The wide-open space of a duo allows for harmonic and rhythmic playfulness to abound, in a performance that is up close and personal at this cozy listening room. Bowlus & Ricci plan to make this a recurring event every 3rd Wednesday, showcasing a different composer or theme each time. 

More about Joshua Bowlus:

A regular performing artist at the Blue Jay, Joshua Bowlus plays frequently with his band in festivals and venues throughout the Southeast, including the Jacksonville Jazz Fest, Blue Jay (Jax), Good Times Jazz Bar (Savannah), and The Jazz Corner (Hilton Head). Joshua collaborates regularly with vocalist Linda Cole (http://www.colebowlusmusic.com/), who is a family member of the Nat King Cole family dynasty. They released an album together in 2014 entitled What a Wonderful World. Most recently, Linda was also a guest on Joshua’s latest Christmas album release in 2023 entitled Sleigh Ride. 

Bowlus is an indefatigable and proven sideman, often invited to perform on stage with national and international artists which have included Bunky Green, Jazzmeia Horn, Ulysses Owens, Benny Benack III, Alex Hahn, Ryan Devlin, Gene Perla, Adam Larson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Patrick Bartley, Charanee Wade, and Chantae Cann. Joshua also participates as the primary pianist for the Jacksonville Jazz Collective - a 17-piece big band sponsored by the Jacksonville Symphony. Bowlus has recorded over the years with a variety of celebrated artists, including John Ricci, Daniel Dickinson, DeAndre Lettsome, Ben Adkins, Jon Reshard, & Dave Weckl. He is also part owner of a Jacksonville-based record label, Bold City Music Productions (https://boldcitymusic.com/home), founded and led by his close friend and long-time musical partner, Ben Adkins. 

In recent years, Joshua has focused much of his performances around tributes to the masters of this music, including the Ahmad Jamal Trio, the Ray Brown Trio, and Chick Corea. In the near future, Bowlus plans to record an album of mostly original compositions. He is married to his wife, Brandy, and is the father of two young boys, Owen and Ethan. He currently resides in Jacksonville, and performs regionally as a freelance pianist. 

More about John Ricci:

John Ricci has been a performer, jazz educator, composer, and clinician in the North Florida area for over eleven years. John attended the jazz studies program at the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he was mentored directly by internationally recognized saxophonist and jazz pedagogue Jerry Coker and former Art Blakey Jazz Messenger Donald Brown. He then attended Florida State University earning a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies under a teaching assistantship. In that time he performed with Blue Note Trumpeter Marcus Printup and at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. He has received many awards including a Downbeat Magazine award in 1995. John has since performed with a myriad of top recording artists and regularly in numerous club dates spanning from New York to Savannah, He’s performed locally as a tenor saxophone soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony Pops Orchestra, the Four Tops, The Temptations, and in festivals including Chijazz Festival in Singapore, as a regular performer in the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Savannah Jazz Festival, as a guest artist with pianist/composer Donald Brown in the Knoxville Jazz Festival, and was invited to headline the Inaugural Jacksonville Jazz Series with his own quartet.

John’s album Holding Time received high critical acclaim, and is a debut release of some of his own very inspired compositions and arrangements and includes some of the finest musicians in the southeast. And in January 2009, John was judged the winner of the jazz song category of the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards. John has taught at the University of North Florida assisting legendary saxophonist Bunky Green, and for many years served as Director of Jazz Studies at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, FL. He can be found performing regularly in the Northeast Florida region.