Thursday Night Jazz: Sounds of Now with David Leon & Yuma Uesaka (aka “Thumbs”)

Multi-reedists David Leon and Yuma Uesaka take to the stage for the final installment of Tomas Fujiwara’s “Sounds of Now” three-part concert series showcasing what’s new and happening in the realm of jazz. Performing as the duo “Thumbs,” David and Yuma have developed a peculiar improvised practice. Built around a shared interest in extended timbres and hairpin counterpoint, their music explores extremes: quiet and loud, dense and desolate, serious and silly. 

David’s work is guided by a persistent search for vitality through autonomy, contradiction, hyperbole, and humor, while Yuma’s music often explores the fringes of instrumental and compositional techniques to question traditional musical roles and deconstruct the assumed binaries of sound and performance. Together, the pair will enchant audiences with an experimental and unpredictable set in a perfect finale to Sounds of Now. 

About the Artists:

Yuma Uesaka is a Japanese-American saxophonist, clarinetist, improviser, performer, and composer based in New York City since 2014. Over the last decade, Yuma has contributed to scenes that embrace various experimental and historic practices primarily rooted in jazz, creative improvised music, and new music. An active sideperson, Yuma has performed in groups led by Anna Webber, Lesley Mok, and DoYeon Kim, at venues such as Roulette, National Sawdust, and The Jazz Gallery. He can be heard on Pi, American Dreams, and NotTwo Records. As a composer, he has received recognition from the ASCAP Foundation, Metropolis, and Either/Or Ensemble.

David Leon is a Cuban-American saxophonist, woodwinds player, composer, and improviser living in Brooklyn, New York. His work with the saxophone investigates alternate methods for producing a tone, refinement of these techniques, and development of a distinct vocabulary using these sounds; he melds this timbral approach with melodic and rhythmic phrasing from Cuban folkloric traditions, narrative playing, Free Jazz & avant-garde esthetics, and microtonality to reveal a personal conceit. In 2024,David was named a Music Composition Fellow by the CINTAS Foundation and awarded a Jerome Commission by Roulette Intermedium to support the creation of A Divine Echo, a hybrid work of chamber music and wordless puppet theatre. In April 2025, he will present a new solo work for amplified saxophone and electronics as part of his Roulette 2024/2025 Jerome Artist Residency. His work has been recognized by The Jazz Gallery’s Mentoring Series, New Music USA, Metropolis Ensemble, Detroit Composer’s Project, Compositum Musicae Novae, the National Youngarts Foundation, and the ASCAP Foundation.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant Cucina Alfabeto is open for dinner from 5-10 pm. Please visit Open Table or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.