Photos by Rebecca Hope and LA Randall.

After their instruments—and, by extension, their livelihoods—were stolen from their studio space at Union Arts in Northeast D.C., local jazz musicians Luke Stewart and Aaron Martin are turning to crowdfunding.

Stewart and Martin launched a GoFundMe page yesterday to raise $3,000 to replace their stolen instruments—a Fender P-Bass Special and a 1941 Buescher “Big B” Alto Saxophone (serial number #295553), respectively. As Arts Desk reported, Stewart noticed his bass was missing from the studio on Tuesday, August 11th. He was there on the 10th to practice his upright bass, but didn’t know if he saw his electric bass or not. Martin was last at the space with his saxophone on Saturday, August 8th, and the duo reached the conclusion that their instruments were probably stolen sometime in the evening of Sunday, August 9th.

Stewart and Martin play together in the Free Jazz trio OOO, which our own Sriram Gopal has written favorably about numerous times, but both are accomplished profession musicians who perform with a variety of differing musical outfits. Martin has been performing in D.C. since the ’70s and has performed with more musical legends than space allows on this page.

As professional musicians, their instruments aren’t just instruments—they’re the tools required to share their art with the world and make a living. Though new instruments can’t replace the character of longtime cherished ones, they can at least help make sure two of the District’s best musicians don’t lose gigs.