Adam Ezra Group with Special Guest Jeff Kazee
Doors 6:30PM / Show 7:30PM
Seated show
$20ADV / $25DOS
He takes a month out of each year to visit the living rooms of his fans around the country…
His band and nonprofit organization RallySound host a free festival every summer that raised $151,000 for homeless veterans in 2024…
He live-streamed for 500 nights in a row during the pandemic…
They co-produced an album with 163 fans…
If you haven’t connected with Adam Ezra Group yet, these are just a few examples to help you understand how this underground, Americana songwriter and his bandmates seem to have popped out of nowhere, establishing a connection with their fans unlike any other, and are suddenly selling out theaters throughout the Northeast.
Adam Ezra will joke with you that while the “nowhere” part might be accurate, nothing has ever just “popped” for this folk musician, activist. Without resources, connections, or any kind of clue how the music world works, Ezra began playing shows over 20 years ago. When music venues wouldn’t hire him, he played bars, bookstores, fields, and parking lots, often raising money for causes he cared about; a practice that grew into his nonprofit organization RallySound.
“We’d play 5 hours a night,” Adam reminisces, “more often than not, in danger of outnumbering the audiences we were playing for.”
So how did this band operating so far outside the traditional music world come to win New England Music Award’s “Americana Act of the Year” in 2023? What could have happened to inspire John Oates to call Adam and invite him to begin a songwriting friendship that would lead to John producing their latest release and co-write, “Hold Each Other Now”? What happened to catch the attention of The Wallflowers, who recently invited AEG to join them on their spring tour, or SPIN Magazine who recently proclaimed, “This Independent Underground Folk Band Is Blowing Up Without Selling Out”?
If you ask Adam, he’ll tell you:
“One person at a time, over many years and thousands of shows, decided to turn their heads to listen. One person at a time decided to share our music with folks they care about. That’s always been our story. It’s no fairytale, but it sure makes me proud and humbled when I look out from the stage to watch theaters full of people singing along to our music.”
These days you’ll find Adam and his bandmates, Corinna Smith (fiddle), Poche Ponce (bass), and Alex Martin (percussion), constantly out on the road. If you look at their tour schedule now, you can buy tickets to see them at festivals, rock venues, and theaters around the country, but you will also see their tour continuously peppered with activism and grassroots events; a testament to an artist who will never forget where he came from, and whose mission is about much more than music.
Best known for his high-profile role as bandleader/keyboardist/producer for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and pianist/vocalist with the powerful piano-driven Early Elton Trio—Jeff Kazee's skills have led him through an eclectic career: touring and recording with Rock icons Bon Jovi, Folk/Pop singer-songwriter Dar Williams, cross-country tripping with SNL/Dylan bandleader G.E. Smith, performing and recording with Roger Waters, Americana with Southside Johnny & The Poor Fools, exploring the jam-band based frontiers with The Steve Kimock Band, greasing grooves with Stax legends Steve Cropper & The Blues Brothers and vibing with the inimitable Downtown soul of Chocolate Genius.
Kazee's many television appearances and presence on the NYC music scene have made him a fixture in house bands for many of the largest & most successful galas/corporate/charitable events—finding him music directing, writing, arranging & backing dozens of well known musical artists.
In NYC, Jeff maintains a Wednesday Residency with his Trio (with Shawn Pelton & John Conte) at The Club Room, located in the Soho Grand Hotel, and has a Monthly appearance with his Quartet at The Roxy Hotel.
Born into a musical family, Jeff was raised in Lima Ohio and is a longtime resident of Astoria, Queens in New York City with his wife, Constance—and has two daughters; Vassileia & Sophia.
Kazee has produced and written original songs for The Asbury Jukes' "Soultime!", "Pills & Ammo", "Men Without Women: Live From The Stone Pony" & The Poor Fools' "Songs From The Barn".
His recent album Thanks for Checking In is available on this website and streaming everywhere.