Jerron Paxton (formerly “Blind Boy” Paxton) and Dennis Lichtman are world-renowned multi-instrumentalists and vocalists whose musical friendship has grown organically in New York City for more than a decade. Paxton and Lichtman were artists-in-residence at Symphony Space in New York City for the 2024-25 season and recently released their first full-length duo recording, Jerron Paxton & Dennis Lichtman. Their mutual love of the history, stories, and significance behind the music they play is apparent as they romp through an energetic and engaging set of acoustic blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop songs, 1920s jazz, twin fiddle hoe-downs, and original songs and compositions.

Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Paxton presents Black folk music from nearly all the idioms that entails: stride piano jazz from New Orleans to New York; deep blues on guitar and harmonica; rural music from the beginnings of Black arrival in America played on fiddle and banjo; ragtime; and other turn-of-the-century-music that gives the full breadth of pre-WWII Black music without lecturing, but rather inviting you to enjoy that music as it was given to him. Paxton transports his audiences not to a time, but to a state of mind that allows them to enjoy and internalize Black folk music, as has been the American experience for centuries.

Lichtman is a world-traveling bandleader who is also known for running the famed trad-jazz jam sessions at Mona’s Bar in New York City since 2007, which was described in the Wall Street Journal as “ground zero for an emerging late-night scene of young traditional jazz and swing players.” He is a masterful multi-instrumentalist (clarinet, mandolin, violin, and more) who has toured and recorded with David Byrne, The Lovestruck Balladeers, Pokey LaFarge, Ghost Train Orchestra, Jim Kweskin, and his own projects: The Brain Cloud, Mona’s Hot Four, and his newest all-original album Secret Workshop.