justin ray

September 29th at Little Jumbo, Justin Ray transforms Monday night into something that feels like discovering jazz's best-kept secret. This isn't just another trumpet player—this is a musical catalyst who makes every note count and every musician around him sound like they've just remembered why they fell in love with playing in the first place. Ray's trumpet doesn't announce itself with flash or fury; instead, it opens conversations that pull you in close, asking musical questions that make other instruments want to answer with their most honest voices. Leading the Justin Ray Quartet with the kind of quiet confidence that only comes from truly listening, he's turned Asheville's jazz scene into his personal laboratory for collaborative alchemy. When Ray lifts that trumpet, he's not just playing melodies—he's creating gravitational fields where musical magic becomes inevitable and Monday nights suddenly feel like the best-kept secret in the mountains.