BRATTLEBORO-We at the Vermont Jazz Center are thrilled to present Endea Owens fronting her sextet, The Cookout, on Saturday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Owens is a familiar presence to late-night TV buffs as the double-bassist propelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's house band with her swinging, low-end grooves. The Detroit native is a graduate of Juilliard who has toured and performed with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, Solange, Jon Batiste, and many others.
She has appeared on Jon Batiste's album We Are, the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, and H.E.R.'s widely acclaimed Super Bowl LV performance. Her musical talents have contributed to multiple awards.
Impressed by the intensity and fullness of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers as a youth, Owens seeks to emulate the big sound that Blakey attained by performing with a sextet rather than a smaller, more intimate group. She noted, "I wanted to honor his legacy."
Owens' sextet includes her on the upright bass along with Diego Ramirez, drums; Anthony Hervey, trumpet; Irwin Hall, saxophone; Mathis Picard, piano; and Nia Drummond, vocals.
In a video interview with online music magazine The Pace Report, Owens relates, "It's empowering to lead a band. [...] The way that I function with my band is to exemplify equal opportunity because it's not all about me. I want everyone to have their time to shine because we are a collective."
Owens sees music as a healing force, a way to bring people together and spread joy. The quality of sound she achieves in her compositions embodies that altruistic, positive spirit. She was commissioned in 2023 by the Cincinnati Symphony to compose and serve as artist in residence.
In a promo video for the project Believe in Yourself, she discussed the effects she hopes to see as a result of her music's impact.
"When people walk away from the experience, I just hope that they will have a change in their heart [...] a flow of energy and a vibration that will help the next person [especially] if they don't feel loved or feel depressed," Owens says.
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This focus on generating positive energy comes as a reflection of Owens' ability to transcend difficult times firsthand.
When she was in high school, her mother lost her job as an educator, and their family ended up living in a shelter. Despite that hardship, Owens continued to practice and walk to rehearsals with her acoustic bass strapped to her back. Her mother said to her "You're going to be somebody. Don't let this deter you."
"Those were the years that I learned the most," she says.
"I always knew I would be a musician, and I always knew I could help people with the bass [and that] nothing could ever break me," she continues. "I would practice in the shelter; I would close my eyes and when I opened them every woman and girl in the shelter would always surround me and listen. […] That moment was so uplifting [...] I knew that music was bigger than myself."
Owens loves a cookout, that's the way she came up with the name of her band. Cookouts have also become a way for her to serve others. In a 2025 interview with The Jazz Real Book videocast, Owens discussed the origin of her nonprofit, The Community Cookout.
"I was aware of the opportunity and the blessing I had to still work. Months after I got into The Late Show is when Covid happened. So I [thought], 'How can I help people?'
"I've always wanted to be in philanthropy. That's life's greatest gift to me - to be able to give back," she told host Jay Sweet.
Giovanni Russonello of The New York Times picked up the story: "In Harlem, where she lives, Ms. Owens started a monthly series of masked, socially distanced cookout concerts. Using donations as well as money from her own pocket, she has handed out 100 free meals at each one, while paying underemployed jazz musicians to perform."
To this day, Owens continues to host cookouts, often collaborating with noted chefs and local food pantries to draw attention to the plight of homelessness and food disparity. She has served thousands of meals, partnering with New York's famed Charlie Parker festival and other service organizations, establishing cookout events as far away as Europe and Tucson, Arizona.
Detroit, Endea Owens' hometown, is one of the major cities where Black music thrives. She was 15 when she picked up the bass at Detroit School of Arts. Her mentors include two of that city's legendary teachers, Rodney Whitaker and Marcus Belgrave.
The history of significant Detroit bassists runs deep and includes Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Robert Hurst, James Jamerson and many others. This is an important part of Owens's story.
In her interview with Brian Pace of The Pace Report, when asked what makes Detroit so important, especially to Black American music, she said, "The greatest thing about Detroit is its soul and its community."
"We have a lot of selfless individuals who have played with the greats - they've played with this name and that name," she continued, "but they will also take the time to find the struggling student that wants to learn, and they'll mentor them until they get it."
The lineage of Detroit musicians is based in mentorship, and that creates strong protégés.
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Owens said that when she was growing up, "I heard everything on the radio, it wasn't just one type of music that I was accustomed to."
"Detroiters grow up listening to great music; they know all the Motown hits, so [its impact] only makes sense," she continued. "It's in the water [...] the perseverance, the fire, the ambition, grabbing life by the horns, and that comes through the music."
Asked to describe her music, Owens called it "a buffet of the Black music experience," and said she wanted her album to sound like everything she's grown up with. "Of course, it's a jazz album, but it "includes influences of jazz gospel, funk, R&B, and hip-hop."
Without question, Owens leads the band from the bass with authority and tons of exuberant energy. This will be a joyful concert that will inspire listeners to see the good in life and convey that positive spirit to those around them.
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Tickets for Endea Owens and The Cookout at the Vermont Jazz Center are $25+ general admission (contact VJC about educational discounts), available at vtjazz.org or by email at sarah@vtjazz.org. Tickets and information on mobility access can be attained by calling the Vermont Jazz Center ticket line, 802-254-9088, ext. 1.
Eugene Uman is director of the Vermont Jazz Center. The Commons' Deeper Dive column gives artists, arts organizations, and other nonprofits elbow room to write in first person and be unabashedly opinionated, passionate, and analytical about their own creative work and events.
This Arts column was submitted to The Commons.