Alexis Lombre in Residence
April 3–18, 2025
April 3
Seeds of Sound: A Black Earth SWAY Dialogue
with Sheree Renée Thomas
7pm, Blank Forms #1D / RSVP
April 4
Black Earth SWAY
7pm, BRIC / Tickets
April 8
ft. Brandon Rose and Brian Richburg
7pm & 9pm sets, 154 Orchard St / Tickets
April 11
with Terri Lyne Carrington and Endea Owens
7pm, DROM / Tickets
April 12
Outside the Measure: Intersectionality in Black Jazz Space
in conversation with Terri Lyne Carrington
2pm, CARA / RSVP
April 17
Listening Party in conversation with Melanie Charles
+ DJ OOOchild
7pm, Cassette / RSVP
April 18
with Georgia Anne Muldrow
7pm, Roulette / Tickets

Still in her twenties, the pianist, vocalist, composer, and producer Alexis Lombre established herself as a force out of Chicago’s legendary musical universe while barely out of her teens. Living, learning and working in the vibrant musical cultures of Chicago, Detroit, New York, and now Los Angeles, Alexis’ cosmopolitan musical vision is formed in dialogue with textures of contemporary urban Black experience in these cities. Dissolving “boundaries” between Black music’s so-called “genres”—including R&B, avant-garde, gospel, soul, hip-hop and jazz—is part of the living tradition she carries. As she puts it, “Separation is an illusion. Especially within the genres of Black music.”
Alexis grew up on Chicago’s South Side and became involved during childhood in the city’s musical communities, discovering early that “the true essence of music is not just about what you hear but how music makes you feel.” Alexis began playing piano at age nine, and soon became a student and mentee of the great Chicago pianist Willie Pickens. Following her “musical mothers”—the pianists Terry Jean Pollard, Alice Coltrane, and Alma Smith, who found community in the Motor City—Alexis immersed herself in Detroit’s jazz and gospel scene after moving to Ann Arbor for college. She also toured South Africa with Ernest Dawkins’ Englewood-Soweto Exchange and France with Bacongo Square Boulevard, a trio of French, Congolese, and American musicians.
In 2017, Alexis released her acclaimed first album, South Side Sounds, a series of piano homages to the jazz musicians of the South Side—a “straight ahead” jazz album, in her words. She was inducted as a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 2023. Her hotly-anticipated second album, due out in 2025, explores her irrepressible range—as she puts it, “An amalgamation of everything I do and everything I am…within the whole realm of Black music.”
In addition to her own trio and quartet, she performs regularly on national and international stages with collaborators including Jon Batiste, Terrace Martin, Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ledisi, Lizz Wright, STOUT, Keyon Harrold, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Nicole Mitchell, Jamila Woods, DJ D-Nice, the Miles Electric Band, Makaya McKraven and Wadada Leo Smith.
Alexis possesses a gleeful “making-shit-happen” energy, palpable to audiences at her shows. Her art is foremost a commitment to building community—a collective experience, and a “scene,” emphasizing Black (and especially Black female) empowerment—with music as its articulated center.
FourOneOne is proud to collaborate with Alexis Lombre on a multifaceted residency featuring Alexis alongside her inspirations, mentors, and peers. Spanning concerts, listening parties, and conversations, the residency will foreground both her singular talent and their collective histories.