The Pickle Mafia is a jazz fusion trio based in New York. Their name comes from the fact they were making pickles during the pandemic as a side hustle when they couldn't book live gigs because venues were shut down.
"During the pandemic we really, legitimately made thousands and thousands of jars of pickles to survive," says Charlie Lindner, the pianist of the trio. "There was a thriving pickle business for a little while—until the booking came back."
Linder moved to Santa Cruz a few years ago after he reconnected with his high school sweetheart and moved here to marry her. The other two thirds of the group, drummer Marco Cirigliano and bassist Ben Chilbert still live in New York. Lindner says their long-distance music relationship is working out so far.
"I'll fly back there [to New York] every so many months and they're actually flying in [to California] today," he says. "It's been great. Not too much time together and not too much time apart."
Lindner has been incredibly busy lately with a new solo album in the works and a Pickle Mafia tour up and down the California coast happening now with a stop at the Kummbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz on Wednesday Feb. 5.
Click the audio player at the top of this story to listen to the interview or see the highlights below.
Interview Highlights
On Lindner's original song, "Blue Room"
Lindner wrote the song "Blue Room" when he was sitting in a blue room in Santa Cruz shortly after he moved here, feeling a little bit melancholy and homesick thinking about New York.
"I was sitting there and I was thinking about a complete change of scenery, a change of life," Lindner says. "I mean, so many things had changed, and I had no experience with California or people in California or anything like that. So [there] was some anxiety as well."
On The Pickle Mafia turning "Blue Room" from a solo piece into a group performance
"I showed ["Blue Room"] to the band and I said, "this is my solo piece. I don't think it's really going to work for the band." And they said, "No, that'll work." So they started putting their parts together and we worked on the arrangement and then we played it [live] the night that we put it together. "
The Pickle Mafia performs at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.