Kevin Hrabak's big band returns to the basement with a fresh lineup of young musicians, blending traditional swing with contemporary delivery.
The Kevin Hrabak Big Band returns to The Elephant Room on Wednesday, September 2, with a fresh lineup of young musicians. It's a big band in the fullest sense—a full horn section filling the room—and this time around, Hrabak is stepping back into the basement with a new group of players behind him.
If you're not familiar with the band, it's led by local trombonist and vocalist Kevin Hrabak, a graduate of UT Austin's Butler School of Music. He fronts the ensemble on both trombone and vocals, and the music he builds around himself blends traditional swing with a high-energy, contemporary delivery. The core of the set is the Great American Songbook, the standard jazz repertoire that's been the foundation of the genre for decades, though Hrabak's approach tends to lean more toward the energetic end of the spectrum than the quiet. The group is also known for themed tribute concerts, like Portrait of Frank Sinatra, and frequently shares the stage with other Austin jazz figures like Steven Feifke and Mike Sailors.
As for the room, The Elephant Room is a downtown Austin institution. It's a candlelit basement on Congress Avenue that's been booking live jazz seven nights a week since 1991, and the walls are lined with autographs from the musicians who've played there. It's won a fair share of Best of Austin awards over the years, including Readers Poll honors back in 1993, and it's one of the few spots in town where you can find live jazz almost any night of the week.
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The show runs from 9 PM to 11 PM, and there's no cover before 8 PM, so if you want to grab a drink and settle in before the music starts, that's your window. The Elephant Room is at 315 Congress, right in old Downtown Austin.
