Mike Sailors with the Diego Rivera Octet

Mike Sailors headlines Monks Jazz Club on Saturday, September 5, leading the Diego Rivera Octet. It's a full horn section on the stand: Sailors on trumpet, Matthew Chavez on alto sax, Diego Rivera on tenor sax, Aidan Brown on bari sax, and Judah Guerra on trombone. Ross Margitza is on piano, Miguel Rodriguez on bass, and Christian Torres on drums. That's eight players in one room, so the sound will have some real weight to it.

The group is fronted by Rivera, who's a world-class musician, composer, arranger, and educator. He's been playing for over twenty years, known for a muscular tone and a style that blends straight-ahead jazz with music inspired by his Latino heritage. He's also the Director of Jazz Studies at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin and a Vandoren Performing Artist. Born in Ann Arbor and raised in East Lansing in a Mexican-American family, he was named after the muralist Diego Rivera; a childhood trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts is what first inspired him to take up the saxophone.

Rivera has released eight albums as a leader. In 2024, Chamber Music commissioned him to compose Ofrenda, an original suite drawing on the Mexican tradition of the ofrenda. He's toured with Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, belongs to the Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band and the SEIKO Jazz Faculty, and has performed with The Jazz @ Lincoln Center Orchestra w/ Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Christian McBride, and Wycliffe Gordon. He's a fixture in the local scene, and this octet brings that same professional weight to the stage.

There are two shows on the night, so you can pick the one that fits your evening. The first has doors at 7 PM and starts at 7:30 PM; the second has doors at 9 PM and starts at 9:30 PM. Both are at Monks Jazz Club in Austin.