The 23rd Jazztopad Festival will open with a performance by SML – a quintet composed of luminaries from Los Angeles’s thriving jazz, improvised, and indie music scenes: bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann.

Their debut album Small Medium Large was recorded at the band’s first gigs at Highland Park venue ETA in late 2022 and early 2023 and released in Summer 2024 to wide critical acclaim. After the album premiere, the quintet rapidly expanded beyond Los Angeles, performing at various festivals and venues and sharpening their sound. Recordings from these shows were then used as the basis for their sophomore album HOW YOU BEEN. This second release showcases a road-tested band pushing razor sharp confidence in the form of trance-inducing rhythm focused improvisation, but it also delves even deeper into the possibilities of post-production. Upon its late-2025 release, HOW YOU BEEN was thoroughly praised by critics and fans alike, landing on numerous best of the year lists and even catching the attention of the New York Times. The live shows that followed the album release had a similarly wide appeal, and support from well-credentialed outlets has bolstered their fervent energy.

In March 2026, SML held a residency at the Big Ears Festival, where the band played for hundreds of fans. In that spirit, Spontaneous Music Live – an album of two unedited sidelong improvisations recorded at Zebulon in LA – was released in summer 2026, offering the first official recorded glimpse into the psychedelic realism and linear, hypnotic expansion of SML’s live sound. We look forward to experiencing it during the upcoming Jazztopad in November 2026.