Rick Strauss, Elena Izquierdo, Victrola Voilà, and the Ed Croft Trio bring four very different evenings of jazz to the Hunt Art Gallery and Beebe’s on the Square this fall.
One of the things we’ve enjoyed most about Art Meets Jazz is seeing how people have responded to experiencing jazz in this kind of setting.
It’s intimate. The musicians are only a few feet away. You’re surrounded by the art of the Hunt Art Gallery; people are having conversations, enjoying a glass of wine, and then settling in when the music begins.
It feels different from going to a concert. And that’s really the whole idea.
This fall, we’re bringing Art Meets Jazz back to the Hunt Art Gallery and Beebe’s on the Square for four Wednesday evenings. What we’re especially excited about is how different each one will be.
We’ll celebrate Rick Strauss just before his induction into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. We’ll hear one of Buffalo’s rising young jazz vocalists, Elena Izquierdo. Victrola Voilà will visit us from Rochester and bring us the swing and sound of 1930s and ’40s Paris. And we’ll finish in December with the Ed Croft Trio and the music of Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Here’s what we have planned.
September 23 — Celebrating Rick Strauss
The timing of our first Art Meets Jazz couldn’t be better.
On October 7, guitarist Rick Strauss will be inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. A couple of weeks before that happens, we’ll have the chance to celebrate Rick through the music.
And there is quite a musical story to celebrate.
Rick’s career reaches back to the early Buffalo beginnings of Spyro Gyra and his contributions to the landmark Morning Dance album, including composing the album’s closing track, “End of Romanticism.” From there came nationally charting recordings of his own, performances with remarkable artists, and decades of performing, composing, teaching, and contributing to music here in Buffalo.
Rick will be joined by Lisa Hasselback on piano and Ed Croft on bass. It’s the kind of trio and setting that should allow us to hear Rick the way Art Meets Jazz was intended—up close.
Wednesday, September 23 | 6:00–8:30 PM
Rick Strauss Trio — Rick Strauss, Lisa Hasselback & Ed Croft
Reserve your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-meets-jazz-celebrating-rick-strauss-tickets-1998816070674?aff=oddtdtcreator
October 21 — Elena Izquierdo
In October, we get to hear a young Buffalo vocalist we’ve been watching develop over the past several years.
Elena Izquierdo was named the 2026 JazzBuffalo Poll Jazz Rising Star, but her story began well before that. She received Outstanding Jazz Vocalist honors at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition while still in high school and later headed to New Orleans, graduating from Loyola University New Orleans in 2024.
This summer, Elena performed at the Lewiston Jazz Festival. For Art Meets Jazz, we’ll hear her in a very different setting.
She’ll be joined by guitarist Stu Weissman and bassist Avery Weissman, who have become steady accompanists.
We’re looking forward to hearing Elena and her music.
Wednesday, October 21 | 6:00–8:30 PM
Elena Izquierdo
Reserve your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-meets-jazz-elena-izquierdo-tickets-1998920104843?aff=oddtdtcreator
November 18 — Victrola Voilà
If you were at the Buffalo Jazz Festival this year, you may have discovered Victrola Voilà.
Led by Rochester guitarist Melanie Moralez, the group brought something quite different to Ellicott Street—Parisian swing, jazz manouche, French musette, vintage standards, and blues, with inspiration coming from Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.
We wanted to hear them again. And we thought Art Meets Jazz would be a wonderful place to do it.
The intimacy of Beebe’s should bring us even closer to the interplay between the musicians and the swing and personality in this music. It’s music with plenty of rhythm, a little romance, and a sound that takes you somewhere else.
On a November evening in downtown Buffalo, we’ll take a little trip to Paris.
Wednesday, November 18 | 6:00–8:30 PM
Victrola Voilà
Reserve your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-meets-jazz-victrola-voila-tickets-2001011062955?aff=oddtdtcreator
December 16 — A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring the Ed Croft Trio
Some music becomes part of our lives without us really thinking about how it happened.
That’s certainly true of Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.
For generations, songs like “Christmas Time Is Here” and “Linus and Lucy” have been part of the holiday season. And somewhere along the way, a jazz soundtrack written for a television special became one of America’s most enduring Christmas traditions.
On December 16, the Ed Croft Trio will bring that music to Art Meets Jazz.
Ed will be joined by pianist Ivan Docenko and drummer David Wasik. Along with performing the music, Ed will share some of the stories behind Guaraldi and the making of this now-classic recording.
We’ll also begin the evening with a special pre-show performance by Buffalo singer-songwriter Tina Williams-Croft, who will share some of her favorites along with music for the holiday season.
It should be a warm and enjoyable way to bring our fall Art Meets Jazz series to a close.
Wednesday, December 16 | 6:00–8:30 PM
A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring the Ed Croft Trio
Special pre-show performance by Tina Williams-Croft
Reserve your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-meets-jazz-a-charlie-brown-christmas-tickets-2001012545389?aff=oddtdtcreator
Four Wednesdays at Beebe’s
When we put this fall series together, we weren’t looking for four versions of the same evening.
That’s part of what we like about Art Meets Jazz.
Rick Strauss, Elena Izquierdo, Victrola Voilà, and the Ed Croft Trio each give us a different way into the music. One evening celebrates a remarkable Buffalo musical career. Another gives us the chance to hear a young artist making her mark. Another brings the sounds of Parisian jazz into the room. And then we get to gather around music many of us have known since childhood.
All of it happens in the same intimate space at the Hunt Art Gallery and Beebe’s on the Square.
Come early. Take in the art. Have a glass of wine. Spend some time with friends. And when the music begins, you’re close enough to see and hear the musicians creating it.
That’s Art Meets Jazz.
Art Meets Jazz — Fall 2026
Hunt Art Gallery / Beebe’s on the Square
403 Main Street, Buffalo
We hope you’ll spend a few Wednesday evenings with us this fall.
