A seven-piece collective based in Austin, Texas bringing you a blend of reggae, funk and hip hop! Featuring one of the owners of Umbra, Zach Schepis, along with a roster of local musicians from a variety of backgrounds. Opening set will be the reunion of jam/funk/rock band King Koala!

Cold Sugar is a New York City band featuring guitarist, singer songwriter: Guy Fiumarelli, and drummer and engineer Brian Duke.

Every 2nd Sunday of the month Natie hosts her Sunday Art Hang series, growing a space for creatives to practice being present through Creativity. An experience of sound and visual arts, people are encouraged to bring their instrument and participate in the collective improvisation that unfolds.

MC Challenge - USA Finals featuring:

Isaac Knox 

Cleezy!

Legend Status

OG Blak

... and more competing to become the 2024 Champion of the MC Challenge (USA) and to win a trip to the World Finals.

Paul Weinfield is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author, and meditation teacher whose songs have been compared to those of Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen and hailed by No Depression magazine as "unafraid of music boundaries."  

A six piece jazz-funk band influenced by acts such as 1970’s Herbie Hancock & Miles Davis, and more.

The Busy Corner is a live looping mix of full on improvisation and well arranged routines, all performed from scratch with no loops or “pressing play." The brain child of Brian McQuade, local musician and educator, this one-man-act takes you on a journey, blending nudisco, neosoul, and jamtronica. 

Brian will be joined by collaborator and national touring drummer of Space Bacon, Sam Crespo, for what’s sure to be a wild and fun ride of sound!

Stuart Bogie will be performing two sets of music alongside Josh Kaufman and Sam Cohen in support of Bogie’s new album, Patient Music, streaming everywhere November 1st. The evening is presented by Historical Fiction Records.

Stuart Bogie has toured and recorded with Antibalas, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, James Murphy, and Iron & Wine, while performing as a soloist in the Broadway production, Fela! As a composer & arranger, he scored Oscar-nominated documentary 'How To Survive a Plague' while leading his own band, Superhuman Happiness. He has also served as MD for concerts at BAM Opera House and Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

Josh Kaufman is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger and producer best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, Craig Finn, The Hold Steady and The War on Drugs. He is a member of the groups Muzz and Bonny Light Horseman.

Songwriter Sam Cohen spent long stints as a bandleader, working as the core of the ecstatic Apollo Sunshine for the entirety of the aughts and then with Yellowbirds for the first part of the 2010's. After Yellowbirds called it a day in 2014, Cohen spent some time working on other people's projects but still managed to write a new set of sun-dazzled synth-rock tunes for his first album under his own name, 2015's Cool It. He followed it with The Future's Still Ringing in My Ears in 2019.

Quadrature is a musical powerhouse that ventures into uncharted territories at the intersection of raga, rock, jazz and psychedelia. Quadrature features the mesmerizing sitar and effects of Neel Murgai, alongside the innovative Firebird trumpet and effects of Indofunk Satish, the rhythmic brilliance of Tripp Dudley on drum set, and the deep grooves of Damon Banks on bass.

Emerging from the legendary Brooklyn Raga Massive (BRM) jam sessions, Quadrature began their journey with fully improvised sets rooted in ragas, captivating audiences on the streets of Brooklyn. In 2023, they were artists in residence at David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at The Pocantico Center, where they further developed their sound and arrangements. They have performed at Globalfest at Lincoln Center, Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works, Levitt Pavilion, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, DromNYC and more. Inspired by their name, which derives from mathematics and astronomy, Quadrature delves into experimental realms of black hole blues and intricate melodies to create a distinctive sound for this time and space.

Umbra is having a Halloween Party on Halloween evening, which will include a costume contest for attendees that judges will vote on and award a grand prize to the winner! There will be three bands donning musical “costumes” and covering another band’s music in entirety, so expect sets of music from Deep Purple, Steely Dan, and Gorillaz.

Tonight’s open jam will be hosted by Honeytrap! They’ll kick off the night with 30 minutes of original music and then open the stage for musicians to join. Bring your instrument and jam!

Trumpeter and composer Michael Sarian has been praised for his "unique compositional and instrumental voice" (Friedrich Kunzmann, All About Jazz) and his "endlessly renewable strain of lyric improvisation regardless of context or material." (Peter Margasak, Downbeat Magazine).

Born in Toronto and raised in Buenos Aires, Michael relocated to New York City in 2012. Michael has performed at some of the most iconic international stages, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Getxo Blues Festival in Spain, Teatro Colón in Argentina, and at some of New York City's most beloved venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, BRIC JazzFest, The Beacon Theater, and Central Park SummerStage. He has appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck with John Schaefer, NPR's World Cafe, and many more.

Chris discovered his abilities in hip hop at age 18 when he began to build on his production skills as an undergrad in college. It was there where Chris discovered his voice in rap music and began crafting his energetic stage presence. 

His abilities strengthened quickly as he applied his traditional knowledge of music into his style of rap. Chris now actively releases music and performs all around NYC.

His lyrics are raw and direct. His messages are confidently delivered. His content is pure, honest and relatable.

With over 10 years of experience, Chris Is sure to leave a lasting Impression on any stage he touches. 

Alec Gaston (she/they), is a Brooklyn-based multi-disciplinary artist carving a name for themselves as a producer, songwriter, director, composer & multi-instrumentalist. Psychedelic soul is the vibe, love is the tribe. Every month, she will be performing with an ensemble of rotating musicians, playing riveting original material that encompass a universe of feeling, sounds, and colors.

Album release show for Mourning Sex!

A live band, girl karaoke show featuring Bridget Foley, Kate Franklin, Erik Martini, and Richie Raymond. Hosted by Viv Herbert and an opening set from the Bedroomer.

Big Lazy has flourished for over two decades in New York’s downtown music scene, playing their singular brand of noir and twang from iconic NYC clubs - Tonic, The Knitting Factory, Barbès to the The Museum of Modern Art. Simultaneously gothic and modern, noir and pastoral, Big Lazy’s music conjures images from big sky country to seedy back rooms with deftness and a cinematic clarity. With sparse instrumentation (Stephen Ulrich - guitar, Yuval Lion - drums, Andrew Hall - bass) the trio forges a new American music from archetypes in Rock, Jazz and the Avant Garde.

Sarah Cabral grew up in southern Brazil. She draws on modern jazz, avant-garde, and classical influences to breathe new life into seemingly bygone eras of traditional and popular Brazilian music. A recent review by Helvécio Cardoso in Diário da Manha read that her music “unites the sophistication of the most exquisite taste and simplicity.”

It’s the second Sunday of the month, which means it’s time for our monthly Sunday Art Hang! Hosted by Natie, musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments and join in collective improvisation, accompanied by live painting.

The Amick Ambach Experiment is the duo project of Felix Ambach and Noah Amick. Usually playing drums and bass together in other people’s projects, they use this duo as a chance to play improvised electronic music. Their sets are high energy and fully improvised, exploring sound design and groove. 

A native of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008 Ricardo was chosen to represent his country at Dave Liebman’s IASJ (International Association of Schools of Jazz) meeting in Riga, Latvia. In 2013, Ricardo released his debut album, “If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler”, it received rave reviews from the press qualifying as one of the best debut records of 2013 on the NPR Francis Davis Critic’s Poll and on Arnaldo DeSouteiro’s Jazz Station Best of 2013 with Ricardo qualifying in the Best Electric Guitarist and Best Composer categories.

One of Umbra’s owners, Zach, celebrates his birthday by playing a set with each of his bands!

Blahsum is a psychedelic rap jam band based out of Brooklyn, NY. In the early days it was just frontman Garbo, writing lyrics and cutting together beats in his Chinatown home studio. He began to develop a following from a series of releases called the Moon Tapes — new collections of songs that debuted every full moon. Over the years the live band has taken on a life of its own, stretching the songs further and further out with freewheeling arrangements and a no-two-shows-are-the-same ethos of exploration and improvisation.

After almost ten years, Gridline continues to captivate audiences with their high-octane blend of funk, soul, and rock and roll. Their full-length debut album, Soul Brew, is a snapshot of a live band in motion. The eight original songs and arrangements were developed over years of performing late night sets as the house band of New York’s historic club, The Bitter End. The album features contributions from vocalist Corey Glover (Living Colour), Kim Miller (The Skatalites), Joel Thome (Frank Zappa), Mike Soprano (Streetlight Manifesto), and the Scorchio Quartet (David Bowie, Trey Anastasio). 

Tonight’s open jam will be hosted by Mungo’s List! They’ll kick off the night with 30 minutes of original music and then open the stage for musicians to join. Bring your instrument and jam!

Saturday night is the MC Challenge “End of the Weak,” which has been going strong for 24 years in over 20+ countries across five continents. MCs from all around the globe compete in regional and national finals for a shot at being crowned the World Champion.

Friday will feature the return of local Brooklyn quartet Tired Horses, who will showcase their fiery blend of psychedelic indie jazz where entire sets are improvised and never the same twice!

Eddie Flamingo makes their third return to Umbra for their monthly residency! Eddie Flamingo is a multidisciplinary artist from New York City who enjoyed success in the 1950s and 60s, and fell into obscurity in the 1970s. He then served as resident lounge singer of the afterlife from 1978-2023, where he honed his craft. He came back home to New York in 2023 and joined forces with his good old friend Horn Diasperson (bass) and Leo Hammerfoot (drums).