Jerron Paxton and Dennis Lichtman are world-renowned multi-instrumentalists and vocalists whose collaboration began in 2017 during a video shoot, Just Cross the River From Queens, at the Louis Armstrong House Museum. They have toured throughout the United States and internationally since 2019, recently released their first full-length duo recording, and served as Artists-In-Residence at NYC’s Symphony Space for the 2024–25 season.

Their performances reflect a shared devotion to the history, stories, and significance behind the music they play. Together, Paxton and Lichtman present an energetic and engaging program of acoustic blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop songs, 1920s jazz, twin fiddle hoe-downs, and original songs and compositions.

A Smithsonian F   ...

Jerron Paxton and Dennis Lichtman are world-renowned multi-instrumentalists and vocalists whose collaboration began in 2017 during a video shoot, Just Cross the River From Queens, at the Louis Armstrong House Museum. They have toured throughout the United States and internationally since 2019, recently released their first full-length duo recording, and served as Artists-In-Residence at NYC’s Symphony Space for the 2024–25 season.

Their performances reflect a shared devotion to the history, stories, and significance behind the music they play. Together, Paxton and Lichtman present an energetic and engaging program of acoustic blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop songs, 1920s jazz, twin fiddle hoe-downs, and original songs and compositions.

A Smithsonian Folkways recording artist, Paxton presents Black folk music across stride piano jazz, deep blues, rural fiddle and banjo music, ragtime, and other turn-of-the-century traditions, inviting audiences to experience the music as it was given to him. Lichtman is a world-traveling bandleader and multi-instrumentalist known for leading the trad-jazz jam sessions at Mona’s Bar in New York City since 2007.

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