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From L to R: The members of the Native Jazz Quartet are Reuel Lubag, Jason Marsalis, Christian Fabian, and Ed Littlefield. (Photo courtesy of NJQ)

Downloadable audio.

The Native Jazz Quartet is hosting a jazz workshop in Sitka this week, with an emphasis on arranging Native music within jazz compositions. Ed Littlefield (drums) and Christian Fabian (upright bass) talk about the goals of the Native Jazz Workshop, in its fourth year at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

Littlefield and Fabian also talked about their upcoming performance as the Native Jazz Trio, with pianist Reuel Lubag, this Saturday (07-18-15) at 7 p.m. at the Odess Theater in Allen Hall.

Formed in 2010, the Native Jazz Quartet was chosen in 2013 by the U.S. State Department to travel to South America as an ambassadorial jazz group through the program American Music Abroad. The group’s latest album is NJQ: Stories.