Brahja/MoJ
Devin Brahja Waldman – alto saxophone
Georgia Wartel Collins – double bass
Mårten Magnefors – drums
Jonny Wartel – tenor saxophone
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Brahja is a New York city jazz group led by saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Devin Brahja Waldman. The group has existed in many different configurations—sextet, quintet, quartet, and trio. Brahja will be in trio format for the November, 2025 tour in Europe: a tour that will include shows at Kunstencentrum Nona in Mechelen, Belgium on November 13th and at Jazz Brugge, Belgium on November 15th. Joined by Swedish-born acoustic bassist, Georgia Wartel Collins, and
Norwegian-born drummer, Joakim Heibø Johansen, Brahja returns to Europe for the first time in two years. Brahja has released
8 albums in one configuration or another, most notably
Watermelancholia on the Belgian label, Cortizona, and the self-titled album Brahja on the Estonian label RR GEMS. Additionally, Devin Brahja Waldman has performed and/ or recorded with many of the titans of jazz, avant-garde, poetry, experimental, and rock
including Anne Waldman, William Parker, Malcolm Mooney (of Can), Patti Smith, Abiodun Oyewole (of The Last Poets), Thurston Moore, Lydia Lunch, Hamid Drake, Charles Hayward (of This Heat), Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Land of Kush, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, James Brandon Lewis, Luke Stewart, Nadah El Shazly, Sam Shalabi, Maurice Louca, MoE, Mette Rasmussen, Ava Mendoza, Yoshiko Chuma, and manyothers.Waldman has also co-founded several groups including Kadef, EEG Coherence, Notable
Deaths, Apophasis, and Radical Reversal—an initiative with poet Randall Horton that performs but also installs music studios inside prisons within the US in order to help give incarcerated youth continual access to creative spaces. Described as haunting, vibrant and life-affirming, Brahja’s music draws from a lifetime
of inspiration and meticulous study. Growing up mostly in the woods of Upstate New York, after his toddler years in New York City, Waldman was fortunate enough to have pianist Paul Bley as a neighbor. Bley quickly took Waldman under his wing, observing
his affinity and dedication to jazz and improvised music. Bley conveyed stories from his time spent with legends of the music, and offered tips for musicianship as well as music philosophy. Attending the music conservatory of McGill University in Montreal for Jazz Performance, Waldman went on to meet the musicians with whom he’d form Brahja— initially called Brahja Waldman’s Quartet. Eventually returning to New York City, Waldman would expand his horizons performing more regularly with his aunt, Anne
Waldman, with whom he had been performing since the age of ten as well as forming new collaborations that continue to inform his artistic expression. In 2019, the self- titled album Brahja—now on its third edition—was released on RR GEMS and quickly became an underground fan favorite. Now in 2025, Waldman continues to perform, produce, and record new music, with upcoming releases scheduled on RR GEMS.
Top photograph taken by P Squared.
Bottom photograph taken by Thomas Sayers Ellis.
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