John Raymond and S. Carey will perform music from their 2023 album Shadowlands with help from Romain Collin (piano), Katie Ernst (bass/vocals), and Dave Devine Jr. (guitar). The show will begin promptly at 9 p.m., so please arrive early to settle in and order any food and beverages.

John Raymond and S. Carey have been playing music together for close to 20 years since studying music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. While they both received training in jazz and classical music, their careers headed in very different directions. Carey became the right-hand man to Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver); collaborated as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Low, and Bruce Hornsby; and released four albums of his own to critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, and more. Raymond, on the other hand, became a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer “steering jazz in the right direction” (DownBeat); released eight albums garnering praise from the New York Times, Stereogum, and others; and taught on faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world.

In 2019, the two reunited and began experimenting with what their artistic voices would sound like together. Raymond brought a host of musical ideas, while Carey contributed lyrics and helped shape the ideas into songs. Producer Sun Chung (formerly with ECM Records) came on board shortly after, and together they enlisted a cast of A-list musicians—including pianist Aaron Parks (Terri Lyne Carrington, Terence Blanchard), bassist Chris Morrissey (Norah Jones, Mark Guiliana), and guitarist Dave Devine (Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band)—to help flesh out the music.

The result is Carey and Raymond’s new album, Shadowlands (Libellule Editions), a stunning, genre-bending collection of songs that combines the warmth and beauty of Carey’s aesthetic with the improvisational, spontaneous nature of Raymond’s. The music ranges from intimate and meditative to soaring and anthemic, with electric moments of musical interplay throughout. It’s the kind of collaboration that feels as if it were years in the making.