charlie ballentine w/ quinn sternberg & al sergel

Guitarist Charlie Ballantine brings his trio to Little Jumbo for an evening that pulls from the deepest reaches of American song. Telecaster through Deluxe Reverb, a right hand that flatpicks and fingerpicks at once, and a vocabulary that moves easily between Monk and Dylan, bebop and folk, jazz and the old weird Americana underneath all of it. Expect originals from his twelve-album catalog, standards rendered with reverence and risk, and the kind of long-form improvising that opens up when three players know how to listen. Quinn Sternberg holds the bass chair. A New Orleans veteran now rooted in Asheville, Sternberg moves between jazz, old-time, bluegrass, and rock with the same easy fluency, and he brings the kind of harmonic intelligence that makes a trio feel orchestral. Al Sergel completes the rhythm section on drums, a player whose touch is conversational and whose time is the kind you stop noticing because it's simply right. Little Jumbo's weekly music series is curated and always free. The creature watches from its corner. Doors at the usual hour, music shortly after.