Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-02-20
Photo: Courtesy of Space Cartel
Space Cartel returns this Friday with a new live performance video, “Something Often,” filmed at Conway Sound in Denver, Colorado, following a breakout debut that saw the transatlantic jazz-fusion collective surpass 50,000 YouTube subscribers in just three months.
Watch “Something Often”:
After amassing more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers within just a few months of their debut breakout “Giant Jack,” the ensemble continues its upward trajectory with “Something Often,” a session filmed by Geoff Velando and engineered by Ryan Conway alongside Stephen “Eski” Edwards (Thievery Corporation). Captured live in a single-room setting, the performance features a 13-piece ensemble bridging Denver’s vibrant improvisational scene with London’s orchestral talent.
Recorded live and performed in a single-room setting, “Something Often” highlights the ensemble’s ability to balance composed structure with improvisational freedom — anchored by Bosbyshell’s driving piano motif and expanding outward into layered guitars, brass accents, saxophone lines, and textured strings. The result is a rhythm-forward, melody-driven performance that continues Space Cartel’s hybrid approach, where jam sensibility, jazz fusion, and chamber textures intersect in real time.
“I used to play the big piano riff constantly. My roommate finally asked, ‘Why do you play that so often?’ The name just stuck.” — Johnny Bosbyshell (Producer, composer, and pianist)
The Conway Sound session features Space Cartel’s core members: Johnny Bosbyshell, Justin Neely (Eminence Ensemble), Ted Kleist, Matt McElwain (Matisyahu), Karl Summers (Legato), and Joe Lilly, alongside recently joined permanent members London violinists Jenny Clare (Slate Quartet) and Eliza Burkitt (Brixton Chamber Orchestra), expanding the band’s chamber influence and reinforcing its transatlantic identity.
The core group is joined by percussionist Ian Maxwell (Cactus Cat), trumpeter Phil Ortiz-Gonzales (Mariachi Lobos), trombonist Jai Patel, violist Jess Kus (Pretty in Punk), and cellist Helen Erickson (Longmont Symphony Orchestra).
Building on that momentum, the band will perform its first live show as its newly expanded collective on April 18th at ZOLA in Spokane, Washington, marking the ensemble’s onstage debut in its current transatlantic configuration.
Beyond the music itself, the collective continues to reflect its core values: Compassion, Innovation, and Musicality. Trumpeter Phil Ortiz-Gonzales recently launched a community-focused music school initiative partnered with Grupo Folklórico del Pueblo in Pueblo, CO, designed to provide affordable, high-quality music education to local youth.
The program was founded in response to the steady reduction of arts education in public schools and a desire to reshape perceptions of Pueblo by investing directly in its young people. The school operates as an affordable educational sanctuary, offering small-group instruction and instrument rentals for $55 per month, ensuring financial barriers do not prevent access to the arts. For Space Cartel, the project reflects a broader philosophy: that innovation in music must be matched by reinvestment in community.
With “Something Often,” Space Cartel continues to build momentum, expanding its lineup, deepening its cross-genre voice, and reinforcing its presence as a forward-thinking fusion collective operating between Denver and London.
