Published: August 13, 2025; Aithor: Julia Sonrisa
Address: 619 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 United States
Jazz on the Plaza — New York City’s favorite community-based jazz festival — proudly welcomes the Jasper Shogo Dutz Quartet.
Join us every Thursday throughout the summer during the lunch hour, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., through September 25, for an exciting line-up of jazz acts!
Each week throughout the summer months, The Arts and Architecture Conservancy hosts a series of jazz concerts for the Midtown community. This historic program is made possible in partnership with BXP and Grand Central Partnership, and is presented in the outdoor plaza at 601 Lexington / Saint Peter’s Church.
These midday concerts are free of charge and open to the general public. Many people bring a lunch or purchase it from one of the several area vendors. While every effort is made to host Jazz on the Plaza outdoors, in the event of inclement weather, the concert may be moved indoors to the Sanctuary of Saint Peter’s Church, where guests are asked not to bring food or open beverages.
Jasper Shogo Dutz is a distinguished multi-woodwind instrumentalist based in New York City, originally hailing from Los Angeles. In addition to playing freelance gigs in the NYC area, Jasper is the lead alto saxophonist in the Grammy-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra directed by Arturo O’Farrill. He also leads his quartet, which blends Japanese folk influences with jazz, combining his creative background with his heritage. In 2023, Jasper founded the J-Pop/Jazz cover band Catbus Collective, where he showcases his virtuosity on various woodwind instruments alongside several colleagues in a modular configuration. Beyond performing, he serves as the artistic director for VGM Jam Sessions NYC, a role he has held since 2021. A graduate of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he attended on a full tuition scholarship, Jasper has collaborated with renowned artists such as Nels Cline, Joel Ross, Lenny Pickett, Jon Batiste, and Ron Carter.
A graduate of both The Juilliard School(AD ‘21) and The Manhattan School of Music (BM’18 ‘18), at 27, he has already shared the stage with his mentors, such as world-renowned jazz icons Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Herlin Riley, Bruce Barth, Matt Wilson, and Brice Winston. As both a leader and a sideman, Robbie has graced several world-class stages, including Dizzy’s Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Birdland, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and Joe’s Pub. He has also played in numerous jazz festivals across the globe, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Bern Jazz Festival. Throughout his career, Lee has earned recognition for both his performance and composition skills, receiving awards from Downbeat Magazine, YoungArts, The Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition, and The Next Generation Jazz Festival.
Bassist, composer, arranger, and educator Adam Olszewski is a New York City-based musician hailing from Ann Arbor, MI. He began playing the bass at 12, instantly enamored with its deep, beautiful sound. He found his passion for playing jazz within that same year, and it quickly became a channel for his energetic personality and creative spirit. He credits much of his early bass influence to the legacy of Detroit bass players preceding him, and was thrilled to continue in their footsteps when he moved to NYC.
Born in 1992 in NYC, Zweig anchored himself in the local scene of seasoned jazz musicians who eventually became close mentors. He has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of these masters over the years — Randy Weston, Ira Coleman, Johnny O’Neal, Jerry Dodgion, Harold Mabern, Larry Ridley, David Williams, Deborah Davis, Grant Stewart, Joe Cohn, and Steve Nelson. Downbeat magazine has described his playing as “especially crisp and articulate” and all about jazz, “Zweig steals it with his brush work.” Ben strives for his playing to reflect a passion for performing simple, heartfelt music.
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm EDT
Free!
Detailed information and discussion of the event.