Julius Rodriguez

Julius Rodriguez, also known as "Orange Julius", is an American pianist, drummer and composer. In 2021, Rodriguez signed with Verve Records. Rodriguez grew up in White Plains, New York and is of Haitian descent. He began to study classical piano at an early age. He was exposed to jazz, particularly music by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane through his father, an avid jazz aficionado. At age twelve, he enrolled in Manhattan School of Music's precollege division and studied there continuously throughout high school. He later studied at The Juilliard School. Rodriguez’s music integrates elements from jazz, avant-garde, R&B, hip-hop and pop music. He has drawn inspiration from The Bad Plus, Vijay Iyer and Jason Moran to find novel ways of integrating music outside of the jazz canon, including music by The Beatles. Rodriguez has been an active touring member of Isaiah Barr's Onyx Collective, a group which has done collaborative work with a wide range of artists, including Dave Glasser, Ratking, and members of the Wu Tang Clan. The group accompanied A$AP Rocky on a 2018 tour in which Rodriguez performed on both keyboard and guitar. He has worked as a sideman with Keyon Harrold, Ben Williams, Carmen Lundy, James Morrison, Jazzmeia Horn, Dev Hynes, Roy Hargrove, Macy Gray, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Kurt Elling, Nick Hakim, Meshell Ndegeocello and others. Rodriguez also performs regularly as a drummer. Milkowski, Bill. "12 New Jazz Artists to Watch in 2019". paste magazine. Archived from the original (HMTL) on April 17, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2020. KATSOBASHVILI, Michael (November 10, 2015). "The Jazz Youth-Quake: Others on the Upswing" (HMTL). Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 7, 2020. "Video Interview: Drummer/ Pianist Julius Rodriguez" (HMTL). I Spy Soul. February 15, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2020. "The Deals: Phoebe Bridgers Signs Third Artist; 'Blippi' Label Teams Up With UMG". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2021. Demoss Smith, Deborah. "Notations From — Julius Rodriguez, Part I of II" (HMTL). KMHD Jazz Radio. Retrieved March 7, 2020. Nwana, Chioma (September 4, 2019). "Orange Julius On His Journey To Jazz" (HMTL). SVGE Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2020. "It's Different: Julius Rodriguez Speaks" (HMTL). The Jazz Gallery. Retrieved March 7, 2020. Adler, Paul (November 25, 2019). "The Coolest Young Musicians Coming out of Westchester Right Now" (HMTL). Westchester Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2020. "Julius Rodriguez" (HMTL). Smallslive. Retrieved March 7, 2020. Official website