Blak Box Jazz Salon: Billy Mohler, Jimmy Chamberlain, & Chris Speed

For each installation of Blak Box Jazz Salon, curator Ryan Julio (ETA Presents) brings a unique cross-section of the most up-and-coming artists currently in the Los Angeles Jazz community, with vibes and styles ranging from neo-soul, hard bop, electro-acoustic experimentation, and more. Between each of the two sets of improvised music, Julio will be spinning vinyl selections from a diverse catalog of deep cut jazz, soul, world, and experimental groove.

About the Artists:

Billy Mohler is a boundary-pushing jazz bassist and composer whose adventurous spirit also fuels a GRAMMY-nominated career as a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A Berklee College of Music graduate and alumnus of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz—where he studied under Herbie Hancock, Barry Harris, Clark Terry, and Terence Blanchard—Mohler bridges genres and generations, collaborating with an unusually broad range of artists including Ringo Starr, Mavis Staples, Nile Rodgers, Dolly Parton, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Lady Gaga, Sia, Macy Gray, AWOLNATION (Diamond-certified 13x Platinum), Kelly Clarkson, Linda Perry, Steven Tyler, Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Jon Brion, and Pat Benatar. In 2019, he introduced his own vision as a bandleader with Focus, the debut of the Billy Mohler Quartet featuring Chris Speed, Shane Endsley, and Nate Wood; subsequent releases Anatomy (2022), Ultraviolet (2023), and The Eternal (2024) earned critical acclaim from DownBeat and JazzTimes for their raw chemistry and textural innovation. The quartet has performed internationally at venues such as Amsterdam’s Bimhuis and Italy’s Ferrara Jazz Club, as well as major U.S. stages including the Angel City Jazz Festival and LACMA, and Mohler was named a Rising Star Bassist in DownBeat’s Critics Poll.

Chris Speed is an American tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer whose wide-ranging work rooted in jazz has made him a defining figure in contemporary creative music for over three decades. Raised outside Seattle and trained at the New England Conservatory, he first gained attention with the boundary-pushing ensemble Human Feel before moving to New York, where he became a vital voice in Tim Berne’s Bloodcount and a founding member of influential groups including Jim Black’s AlasNoAxis and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet. As a leader and co-leader, Speed has released numerous notable albums — from early projects like Yeah No and Emit to his Chris Speed Trio recordings Really OK (2014), Platinum on Tap (2017), Respect for Your Toughness (2019), and Despite Obstacles (2023) — and contributed to collaborative efforts such as Broken Shadows with Tim Berne, Reid Anderson, and Dave King. Throughout his career he has played with important figures in the jazz world including Craig Taborn, Dave Douglas, and members of The Bad Plus, continually expanding the expressive possibilities of jazz and improvised music.

Jimmy Chamberlin, widely celebrated as the powerhouse drummer of The Smashing Pumpkins, has cultivated a deep and serious presence in the jazz world beyond his rock fame, drawing on his formal jazz training and affinity for improvisation. Outside the rock sphere, he leads the jazz-fusion ensemble Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, whose albums Life Begins Again (2005) and the more instrumental The Parable (2017) showcase his blend of spontaneous jazz expression and fusion sensibilities alongside collaborators like bassist/producer Billy Mohler and saxophonist Chris Speed. He has also forged a longstanding creative partnership with Chicago saxophonist Frank Catalano, performing live and recording multiple jazz-oriented projects together including the Love Supreme Collective EP, which blends modal jazz homage with contemporary sounds and reached the top of the iTunes jazz charts; their collaborations have featured notable musicians from modern jazz and fusion contexts such as Percy Jones and Adam Benjamin. Through these projects and performances, Chamberlin has affirmed his voice within the jazz and jazz-fusion communities, connecting improvisational depth with rhythmic invention far beyond his alt-rock roots.

About Ryan Julio and ETA Presents, ETA began as a humble neighborhood cocktail joint in Highland Park, but evolved into a now-legendary listening space that became a vital hub for creative music in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Under the curation of co-owner Ryan Julio, ETA functioned less as a traditional venue and more as a community laboratory—hosting weekly residencies, long-form improvisations, and artist-driven performances that emphasized deep listening, risk-taking, and continuity. The space played a crucial role in documenting and shaping LA’s contemporary jazz movement, serving as the birthplace and recording site for landmark projects by artists such as Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet, SML, and numerous collaborations featuring core figures of the city’s experimental jazz scene. By prioritizing artist autonomy, sonic fidelity, and consistency over commercial trappings, ETA helped foster an environment where musicians could develop ideas over time, contributing not only to a wave of critically acclaimed recordings but also to a renewed sense of identity and momentum for Los Angeles jazz as a living, evolving tradition.

About the Blak Box, Blak Box Theater is an intimate, purpose‑built performance space tuned for remarkable clarity and impact. The room features a concert‑grade main system with additional 7.2 surround capability for immersive reinforcement (when appropriate), and a state‑of‑the‑art lighting and effects rig and show‑control integration. Under the ear of Artistic Director Jarrod Radnich—himself an internationally recognized musician—the venue is engineered so every seat feels like the sweet spot. Artists consistently remark that their mixes translate and the room sings, making the Blak Box Jazz Salon as much about fidelity as it is about the artistry. The Blak Box was designed so musicians can play with dynamics and nuance—and audiences hear it exactly as the artists intend.

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Host or Publisher Hi-Desert Cultural Center