Julian “J3PO” Pollack ft. Zach Moses and Malachi Whitson

Seating times: 7:00pm & 8:30pm. Doors open 30 minutes early.

TICKET AVAILABILITY:  IF SELECTED TICKETS ARE “SOLD OUT”, PLEASE CHECK AVAILABILITY FOR ANOTHER TIME AND ANOTHER SEATING TYPE

Black Cat JAZZ@theEDGE Summer Festival!! Presents: Julian “J3PO” Pollack ft. Zach Moses and Malachi Whitson

Julian “J3PO” Pollack – Piano & Synth
Zach Moses – Electric/Upright Bass
Malachi Whitson – Drums

Julian “J3PO” Pollack is a pianist/keyboardist and producer described by Timeout New York as a musician who “deftly balances virtuosity with tenderness.” Julian is known for his innovative use of keyboards and synthesizers in jazz, fusion, hip-hop, and electronic styles of music.

When he was 18 years old, having just moved to New York City from his native California hometown of Berkeley, he was featured on Piano Jazz, hosted by Marianne McPartland—the syndicated NPR show. He attended New York University, obtaining a Master’s Degree in jazz performance and composition. In his early twenties he recorded two piano trio albums: Infinite Playground (2010 – Junebeat Records) and Waves of Albion (2013 – Berthold Records). He also wrote music for orchestra: Piano Concerto (2012) and Night Flower (2013). Shortly thereafter, he began hanging out in the Lower East Side’s music scene of the early 2010s where he went on to meet his peers in the jazz-fusion/hip-hop/electronic genres that would influence the sound he is known for today. He joined the unique experimental hip-hop/progressive-soul ensemble The Lesson GK, which hosted a sold-out weekly event at Arlene’s Grocery for almost a decade, consisting of all improvised music.

In 2019 Julian released Small Plates under his moniker J3PO. The album is a collection of 12 compositions that range from simple lo-fi beats to complex jazztronica future house tracks. Inspired by analog synths and sample-based music, the album fuses Julian’s love for today’s contemporary production styles with a nod to the jazz tradition and the spontaneity of live music and improvisation. In 2021, Julian released his follow-up album Mains (2021 – Ropeadope) to much critical acclaim.

In addition to his own projects, Julian has  toured extensively with the legendary Marcus Miller and has performed and/or recorded with David Sanborn, Joe Lovano, Mike Stern, Talib Kweli, Ledisi, Lisa Fischer, Eric Harland, Marcus Gilmore, Casey Benjamin, Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Bob Reynolds, Kamasi Washington, Chase Baird, Nir Felder, Jonathan Butler, Tierney Sutton, Grace Kelly, Ari Hoenig, John Pizzarelli and many others. In 2020, he completed his first feature film score for the movie The Sound of the Wind. 

Julian also works closely as a sound designer with keyboard/synth companies Nord Keyboards, Sequential, and Oberheim, and has created factory presets for the Prophet 5, the Oberheim OB-X8, Take 5, Nord Stage 3, and Nord Wave 2. In addition to these hardware keyboard companies, Julian also does sound design for Universal Audio (most recently, Opal, a new wavetable synthesizer), Softube, and Cherry Audio.