The NYC-based Lucas Kadish Spearhead Quintet plays Dick’s Den on Thursday, January 21st at 10pm as part of a six date tour of Ohio and the Midwest. Guitarist Kadish, a native of Hudson, Ohio, will be joined onstage by Daniel Berkey on tenor sax, Theo Walentiny on keyboards, Nick Dunston on bass, and Adriel Vincent-Brown on drums. The band’s members all attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, but, as Kadish told me, “We come from all over: NYC, Chicago, South Orange, Trinidad, and Cleveland.” For this show, he says the quintet “will be playing an assortment of my own original music, along with original music from Daniel and Nick and some other surprises.” I enjoyed seeing Kadish play Brothers Drake with a quartet over the summer, and for this stop in the middle of a tour, the Spearhead Quintet should be at the top of their powers. Cover is $4. Keep reading for more info on the young guitarist:
Raised in Hudson, Ohio, 20 year old jazz guitarist Lucas Kadish has been immersed in music since he can remember. Currently residing in New York City, Lucas has won various awards in his musical career thus far. He was named a National YoungArts finalist his senior year of high school where he was chosen as the one guitarist to be in the jazz combo that traveled to Miami for intensive master classes and performances. He was also named a semi-finalist in the United States Presidential Scholars of the Arts program along with two other jazz musicians in country. In 2015, Lucas was selected for the prestigious international Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Residency for composition. There he studied with Jason Moran, JD Allen, Eric Revis, Cyrus Chestnut, Carmen Lundy, Eric Harland, and Andre Hayward.
Since Lucas received his first guitar at age 9 he’s had the privilege to study with many masters in the area. He studied with local Cleveland/Akron musicians, Bob Fraiser, Theron Brown, Bobby Selvaggio, and Dan Wilson. They taught him what it meant to swing and introduced him to music that he had never heard before. It was only a matter of a couple years until he was gigging in the Northeast Ohio area. Lucas has played with former Art Blakey’s Jazz Messenger Javon Jackson, R&B legend Les McCann, Bobby Selvaggio’s Grass Roots Movement band and quartet, Jazz at Lincoln Center Trumpeter Dominick Faranacci, Chicago Trumpeter Josh Rzepka, Barbara Barrett, Kamal Abdul Alim, Moustache Yourself, Roy King’s Court, The Joe Leaman Group, Sam Blakeslee, among many other musicians and groups.
Lucas has performed at many esteemed venues across the country so far such as Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, The New World Center in Miami, Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Lexington’s Lyric Theatre, and the Kent Stage. He’s also played many clubs/restaurants such as Blu Jazz+, Whynot Jazz Room, Shapeshifter Lab, Chris’ Jazz Café, Cliff Bell’s, NightTown, the Bop Stop, Silvana, Somethin’ Jazz Club, Tomi Jazz, Harlem Tavern, and many, many more.
Lucas has his own band, the Spearhead Quintet. They put out an energetic, swinging, and gratifying sound playing Lucas’ original and arranged music. Lucas lives in New York City where he studies jazz at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music on the school’s President’s Scholarship and gigs around the city.