The Baggs Jazz Project is a Western New York jazz fusion collaborative. Established in the summer of 2021 by Charles Baggett, Sergey Dumphrey, and Paul LaGreca, The Baggs Jazz Project continues to write and perform to this day.
“It was originally just me, Sergey, and Paul,” says keyboardist and vocalist Charlie Baggett, “and we were trying to find a name for the band. So, we do what any professional group would do and go to a name generator online. Somehow The Baggs Jazz Project was conjured up because my nickname is ‘Baggs.’ So, not even by choice I was kind of thrust into the front of the band.”
The band started playing gigs in July 2021, and soon they added their current lead vocalist and guitar player Jacob Baggett, Charlie’s brother. That’s when things started really picking up; Sergey and Jake, who are already established “giggers”, started getting gigs left and right for the band.
They are currently the house band for Attitude’s Bar & Grill in Lockport NY, and have been playing all around Western New York. Some notable venues include Stamps, Hawley’s Grove, Nietzsche’s, Milkie’s, and, of course, their alma mater the PB & J Jam in the summers of 2021.
Their original and cover songs excite every audience who sees them! “Magic Writing Stick,” their first single, was composed over the span of 2 hours by Sergey and Charlie. It was also the audition song Sergey used to get into the Berklee College Of Music. On their latest EP, “Live at Stamps” a fan stated that “…each member communicates well with the familiar tunes of past bar-room experiences, beginnings, and endings, the group communicates volumes as they plow into Magic Writing Stick with not only jazz, but consummate blues and rock-n-roll riffs, startling the listener into turning up the volume, or hopefully, taking out an ear-bud at a live performance.”
All in all, The Baggs Jazz Project loves music and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. “The Baggs Jazz Project was never meant to hold a solid lineup,” Charlie said, expressing that he hopes that there will be many musicians who find a place in the band in the years to come. “The ‘project’ implies it’s not necessarily one entity. It’s a revolving door of multiple people, like Snarky Puppy or even Steely Dan. Just having people filter through,” he said. “So, this isn’t always going to be us. Who knows? Maybe it will be none of us, maybe it will be all of us. We don’t know.”