Steve Night & Abigail Riccards

Abigail Ricards - Vocals

Steve Knight - Guitar

Alex Aiustin - Bass

Steve’s first step into the professional jazz world came in the living room of noted jazz pedagogue, author, and guitarist Dr. Wayne Goins at Kansas State University. Wayne’s unique approach as a professional first, academic second, inspired Steve to pursue the music further by moving to New York, where he was lucky to study with luminaries in the field like Jack Wilkins, Mark Whitfield, Peter Bernstein, Mark Sherman, and Jim Ridl.

Steve moved to Chicago in the spring of 2016 and began teaching and playing full time, further refining his craft with the help of local jazz heavies Scott Hesse, Jim Trompeter, Ernie Adams, and Henry Johnson. His debut album, Persistence, released in 2022 to rave reviews, including 4 Stars in Downbeat and inclusion on their ‘Albums of the Year’ list. His newest recording, For Years Gone, was released to critical acclaim in April 2025.

Since arriving on the New York scene in 2003, vocalist Abigail Riccards has garnered much attention from the jazz community for her effortless swing, heartbreaking tone, and personalized approach to lyrics. Abigail's inimitable approach to the Great American Songbook has made her one of the most celebrated jazz vocalists of her generation. In 2000, she was also selected to participate in the Jazz in July workshop at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and competed in the 2006 Fish Middleton Competition, where she was a semi-finalist. In 2004, Abigail was selected to be a semi-finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, where she competed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C for judges such as Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, Jimmy Scott, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Over the past decade in New York, Abigail has repeatedly performed at many of the most treasured venues in NYC, including Birdland, Jazz Standard, Smoke, Smalls, Kitano Hotel, Sweet Rhythm, and 55Bar. Abigail has also collaborated with many of the best jazz musicians in the world, including Michael Kanan, David Berkman, Mulgrew Miller, Spike Wilner, Neal Miner, Jay Leonhart, Steve LaSpina, Lee Hudson, Tony Romano, Brad Shepnik, Matt Wilson, Bill Goodwin, Rick Montalbano, Elliot Zigmund, Joel Frahm, Adam Kolker, and Ron Horton. Abigail's first album, When the Night Is New, was released to rave reviews. It featured the talents of David Berkman, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson, Adam Kolker, Ron Horton, Lage Lund, Rogerio Boccato and was produced by Dena DeRose. Ken Dryden calls it "an outstanding debut effort by the promising jazz vocalist Abigail Riccards." Abigail followed it up with her 2011 release Soft Rains Fall, an intimate collection of jazz and popular standards, recorded in a duo setting with nylon string guitarist Tony Romano. Recently, Abigail moved to Chicago, where she has quickly established herself as one of the rising vocalists of its unique jazz scene. Since moving to Chicago, she has performed at many of the top jazz clubs with some of Chicago's most well-respected musicians, headlining at venues such as the Green Mill, the Jazz Showcase, and Andy's Jazz Club. Since earning her Master's Degree, Abigail has also become an active music educator. She teaches privately and conducts many college workshops. Recently, she has conducted vocal jazz workshops at Hunter College and Clark University. Abigail was also selected as a collaborator for David Berkman's The Jazz Singer's Guidebook: A Course in Jazz Harmony and Scat Singing for the Serious Jazz Vocalist, on which she recorded the vocal examples for the accompanying CD.