Jared Engel is a professional musician and has been a mainstay of the New York City music scene for the past 20 years. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, he is often seen on subways, sidewalks and bike paths hauling a combination of instruments that include upright bass, bass guitar, tuba, 4-string plectrum banjo, and 5-string banjo.
Born in 1980 in Rochester, NY, Jared showed an early interest in music, but it wasn’t until the age of 10 when he selected the upright bass as his instrument of choice that his path toward becoming a musician started to form. He quickly became enamored with the instrument and soon added the electric bass and the 5-string banjo to his musical pursuits. He studied at the Berklee College of Music from 2000-2003, where he met French guitarist Stephane Wrembel, with whom he played for a year in Boston until they both relocated to NYC for all the opportunities the city presented.
Since 2004, Jared has been working non-stop as a freelance musician in NYC. Many know Jared for his nearly decade-long tenure as the house bassist for both the trad-jazz AND bluegrass jam sessions that take place at the well-known Mona’s bar in the East Village. He is the founder of the social-justice-oriented brass band, The 3 Million Majority Marching Band, and the host of the “Open Intro Sessions," a video series that introduces previously unacquainted musicians to one another through spontaneous collaboration. He has had the pleasure of recording and performing with acclaimed artists such as Abigail Washburn, David Grisman, Tony Trischka, Kaia Kater, Béla Fleck, Steve Martin & Stephane Wrembel, and is currently a frequent collaborator with groups such as Tony Trischka's Earl Jam, The Baby Soda Jazz Band, Mike Davis & The New Wonders, and Mona’s Hot Four. He has performed worldwide and locally on almost every notable stage for jazz, including The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Birdland, to name several.
In 2020, Jared, along with several others, formed the NYC Musicians Baseball League, an organization that presented musicians with an opportunity to play baseball (not softball) in a not-overly-competitive environment. Jared is still the “commissioner” of the league, which, at this point, in nearly five years of existence, has had nearly 300 local musicians join in on the games. He enjoys playing outfield and hitting clean-up.