Every city has its own music culture and sound. That’s especially true for jazz, a genre so deeply rooted in Sacramento history that its improvisational style became a rhythmic reflection of the city’s evolving identity throughout the decades.
While echoes of the city’s jazz legacy still reverberate through winding alleyways, cobblestone streets and forgotten nightclubs of the past, there’s a new generation of musicians redefining what the genre can be — and they’re inviting everyone to collaborate.
A musician’s musician
Jacob Swedlow is the type of musician who’d skip math class in favor of his high school band room, immersing himself in drum fills, polyrhythms and snare exercises instead of quadratic equations. Even then, Swedlow was tuned into a different frequency as a part of Rio Americano High School’s prestigious, nationally recognized band program, which flew students around the world to perform on prominent stages in New York and Italy.
Recognizing his unique ability to listen and interact with the talent around him, Swedlow earned a scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, one of the nation’s top institutions known for its rigorous jazz and classical programs. There, he deepened his passion for jazz while touring countries like Switzerland and performing in major music cities like Chicago before landing a residency at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
“I was very lucky to be playing music all around the world, and I realized that Sacramento is a unique place because it has a very highly concentrated set of amazing players,” Swedlow said.
Still, as Swedlow walked the streets of his beloved hometown, he noticed a disconnect — a lack of outreach and even camaraderie between other artists and bands across genres. So like any great composer, he set his ear to the ground and once again started listening. That’s how LabRats was formed.
In 2022, the band started its jazz-fusion trio born from collaboration with a love for hip-hop and a desire to build something bigger than themselves.
“I wanted to use LabRats as a way to bridge gaps and have the metalheads meet the R&B folks and have the rappers meet the jazz players from Sac State — and to create a family and a community in the Greater Sacramento music world,” Swedlow said.
Swedlow’s vision for LabRats was so clear that it didn’t take long for him to find the perfect combination of highly skilled, multi-instrumentalists to bring his sonic experiment to life. He describes keyboardist Joey Archie as “a hip-hop Duke Ellington,” bringing in his lush harmonies and bold improvisation.
Miguel Recendez anchors the group with bass-synth grooves and adds depth with tuba and trombone, while also contributing as a producer and beatmaker. In 2023, Thomas Molina joined the band as its fourth member. A composer, producer and talent on the trumpet, Molina crafts a diverse spectrum of sounds using effects pedals that transform his horn into something entirely new.
Together, the band has introduced their take on jazz music to new audiences and performed on the same stages as renowned saxophonist and composer Kamasi Washington, Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli and legendary emcee, GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.
As LabRats carve out their own space within the conventions of jazz, they maintain a strong respect for the genre’s rich heritage and its roots in Black American music. Swedlow acknowledged this responsibility candidly, noting that musicians who choose to perform this style must also recognize that they’ve become torchbearers for its long-standing musical tradition.
But when it comes to defining the genre, Swedlow said that jazz is inherently open to interpretation, making it a more nuanced and fluid form of expression.
“The word is tricky — jazz — because I can ask 15 different people to describe their version of jazz and I’ll get 15 different responses,” Swedlow said. “The reason why our jazz can reach a wide audience is because we don’t think we’re playing jazz.”
He elaborated on how the band approaches genre and identity.
“I think we are all jazz heads to a nerdy degree. All of us literally have degrees in jazz, but I think we’re way more focused on playing contemporary music that is in a lineage of music,” Swedlow continued. “At the end of the day, we’re playing Black American music, which I think is a far more fitting term for most of the music that comes out of America.”
Your favorite rapper’s favorite band
LabRats’ ability to interact and uplift the musical talent around them is witnessed by those who attend their Sunday Sessions, a collaborative weekly jam held at Sacramento’s venerable Torch Club. It’s a space where artists of all genres gather to create, connect and celebrate the music in real time.
It’s also a space where LabRats have discovered new artists to partner with, leading to opportunities ranging from opening Sacramento’s Concerts in the Park series to finding dynamic rappers and soulful R&B singers who help bring their compositions to life.
“We are very lucky to be at the forefront of very, very talented individuals every week at Sunday Sessions,” Swedlow said. “So we’re kind of spoiled in that sense where we kind of have a little platter of what’s happening in Sacramento on a weekly basis.”
Their growing reputation as a band who can easily vibe with just about anyone, led them to become the backing band for the electronic R&B project Rituals of Mine, led by vocalist Terra Lopez. Lopez recalled grabbing coffee with Swedlow and bonding instantly over their shared love of music. Within 20 minutes, she asked if LabRats would join her permanently.
“They are creating true community, a scene where folks feel heard and seen and it’s something so much bigger than music,” Lopez said. “I was a fan long before I reached out to Jacob. … There’s a genuineness to him that is incredibly hard to find in the music industry, in life in general.”
Beyond their work as dedicated musicians, LabRats also use Sunday Sessions as a platform for giving back, donating at least $500 a month out of their own tip jar to different nonprofits that align with their values. These include Access Reproductive Justice, which supports reproductive care for uterus-bearing individuals, and Backline, a mental health resource for musicians where Lopez has served as community manager and head of artist partnerships for nearly four years.
For LabRats, this kind of community support is inseparable from their overall mission, and it’s a reflection of their shared belief that jazz, at its core, is music driven by change.
“You can’t play jazz without being an activist of some sort. Traditionally, it’s been used to bring awareness to certain issues that folks are facing,” Swedlow said. “Duke Ellington famously wrote for revolution-based music, same with Louis Armstrong and Charles Mingus, John Coltrane — all the people who we love and admire play this style of music for a greater reason. Even if you don’t know it, when you choose to play jazz, you’re choosing to be a part of a revolution.”
In the three years since LabRats formed, the band has channeled their creativity and talent for collaboration to deepen their connection to the Sacramento music scene, seamlessly blending performance with purpose. They’ve proven that they’re more than just background music — they’re central to the rhythm and pulse of the city’s artistic identity.
“LabRats will be one of the greatest music collectives Sacramento has ever had and it’s because they realize what it’s all really about — the community and sense of belonging. They have such a collaborative spirit in everything they do, and because of that, everyone who comes across them falls in love with them and roots for them,” Lopez said. “There’s nothing selfish about this group. They are in it for the long haul and for all the right reasons, and I think they are going to have a lasting impact on Sacramento because of that.”
See LabRats live during these upcoming performances:
June 1 at Neck of the Woods, 406 Clement St., in San Francisco, with Rituals of Mine.
June 26 at The Sofia, 2700 Capitol Ave., with saxophonist Jacam Manricks.
Aug. 9 at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, in San José, with Rituals of Mine.
Sept. 12 at the Joe Henderson Lab inside the SF Jazz Center, 201 Franklin St., in San Francisco.
This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer.
By Steph Rodriguez
