Sacred Machines

Sacred Machines play The Nash on Saturday, October 17, at 7 PM. It's a progressive jazz set led by Glenn White, a New York-based saxophonist and composer who's spent his career pushing the boundaries of the form. He's known for a fearless approach to creativity and a bold improvisational voice, and the comparisons to Wayne Shorter and the post-bop innovators of the sixties aren't far off—he works within the jazz tradition but isn't afraid to stretch it.

White's collaborations run wide. He's played with jazz luminaries like Jamie Baum, Art Lande, and Jeff Hirshfield, and he's stepped into the mainstream with Norah Jones, Paul Banks of Interpol, and Greg Camp of Smash Mouth. That range—from the avant-garde to the familiar—is a good shorthand for how he works: he's as comfortable with a challenging improvisation as he is with a song that holds onto a melody.

For this show, he's bringing a full quintet. On tenor saxophone, he's joined by Adam Roberts, so there are two horns leading the way. Michael Collins is on piano, Ted Sistrunk on bass, and Connor Sample on drums. With two saxes and a rhythm section, the group has plenty of room to build out the sound, and the progressive label fits—this is music that moves forward rather than just circling back to the same place.

They're playing at The Nash, which is more than just a club. It's a jazz venue, educational center, and art gallery that's become a home for jazz in Arizona, and it's billed as the state's number one spot for the music. It's an all-ages concert lounge with a cocktail bar, and they present live music nearly 300 nights a year, alongside educational programming that introduces students to improvisation and reaches schools throughout the Greater Phoenix area. The show is on Saturday, October 17, starting at 7 PM at 110 E Roosevelt St in downtown Phoenix.