A Carmel-based pianist who once had to be taught his first chord by a missionary is stepping onto one of the most storied stages in American music. Pavel Polanco-Safadit, an international Latin jazz pianist and composer who leads the band Direct Contact, is set to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Friday, September 25, 2026.
The show is part of the museum's Jazz International initiative, a program built to connect artists and cultures, according to WISH-TV. The museum is housed in the historic Old U.S. Mint building at 400 Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans and functions as a center for preserving the city's jazz heritage, the station reports. It has become a destination for connecting local and international artists, hosting performers from across the globe and partnering with artists and institutions across multiple continents.
Tasia Mejia, the museum's international relations manager, oversees the Jazz International program's cultural exchanges, per the same report. The museum also brings its own New Orleans musicians to festivals worldwide, and the program is designed to create opportunities for new artistic collaborations. Polanco-Safadit's appearance, the outlet notes, highlights connections between Indianapolis artists and the international arts community.
From San Francisco de Macoris to the Indianapolis Stage
Polanco-Safadit is a Carmel resident and international jazz musician, according to The Reporter. He grew up in San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic, and his introduction to the piano came almost by accident. “I was 11. A missionary at the Episcopal Church gave me a quick lesson,” he told the outlet.
That lesson set him on an academic and musical path that carried him through three universities. Polanco-Safadit is a University of Arkansas graduate who also earned a master's degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the outlet reports. He now leads the Latin jazz band Direct Contact, and earlier this year he performed alongside those bandmates at The Jazz Kitchen in Broad Ripple, according to the same account.
A Sound Built on Salsa, Latin Jazz, and Pop
Pavel & Direct Contact blend Latin jazz, salsa, and Latin-infused American pop into what the group describes as an unforgettable fusion, according to the band's own account on paveldirectcontact.com. Polanco-Safadit also serves as an artist in residence at Butler University and Eskenazi Hospital, the site notes, extending his musical work into education and healthcare settings around Indianapolis.
In 2025, that international throughline deepened further. Grammy-winning Dominican singer-songwriter Pavel Núñez teamed up with Polanco-Safadit to release the album “De Pavel a Pavel,” a project the band describes as a cultural and musical partnership between the Dominican Republic and Indianapolis. Polanco-Safadit has also continued to support young musicians back in the Dominican Republic through Music Ed Fest and teaching efforts that, per The Reporter, raise thousands of dollars and help hundreds of aspiring musicians there.
Friday's performance places that same cross-border thread on a national stage, inside a building that has served as a hub for New Orleans' jazz legacy for generations. For a musician whose career has already stretched from a small Episcopal Church lesson in San Francisco de Macoris to concert stages and hospital residencies in central Indiana, the Old U.S. Mint marks another stop in a story built on connection.
