KELP, cellist and composer Tom Kersey’s vehicle for original music incorporating aspects of jazz, rock, avant-garde, and contemporary classical chamber music, will perform at The Independent in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, July 19, 2025 from 8:00 pm to 10:30 pm. Expect an evening of music displaying uncommon uniqueness in the form of Kersey’s original compositions and improvisations, as well as some classic jazz tunes by Django Reinhardt, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Wayne Shorter.

Tom is joined by some of Tampa Bay’s most creative musicians; Chris Barbosa on violin and viola, Joe Grady on bass, and local avant-legend Jim Stewart on drums, percussion, and various objects.

This concert will feature Venezuelan guitarist, singer and composer Jessy Leros, and Canadian pianist Melissa Petrescue. Two of their pieces will be supported with string orchestra arrangements by Tom Kersey.

Come hear some live avant-garde jazz by Erg led by composer and trombonist David Manson

EMIT & the Warehouse Arts District present Dutch vocal artist Jaap Blonk performing one of the key works of the Dada movement, a poem existing of nothing but (mostly) meaningless syllables: theUrsonate by Kurt Schwitters, a masterpiece, written between 1923 and 1932. Jaap is joined by improvisers Jim Stewart (drums), Tom Kersey (cello) and David Manson (trombone) in a freeform exploration of sound. Renowned Dutch vocalist and sound poet Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and almost childlike freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure.

“Blonk’s avant-garde performances channel the provocatively pioneering nonsense of Dadaism. His work is tremendously complex, but his brilliance makes it easy to think the opposite.” (San Francisco Weekly)

From their birth as an underground project for musicians from the St. Louis Symphony, RADIOjazzHEAD explores the fusion of 90s rock with jazz in a postmodern jazz orchestra setting. The wunderkind of saxophonist/composer Pete Carney, RADIOjazzHEAD is a 12-piece orchestra with vocals dedicated to Radiohead and their super friends from the 90’s. With a string quartet, horns, rhythm section & video images, this concert features rock anthems from Thom Yorke, Beck, Cobain, Portishead, Soundgarden & Radiohead with a serious jazz twist.