Articles by Paul Reynolds
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli at the 92NY Jazz in July
by Paul Reynolds
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY Jazz in July New York, NY July 15, 2025 What's the perfect jazz concert for a sultry summer night? If short and swinging (and air conditioned) is your answer, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra delivered the goods at the 92nd Street Y Jazz in July Festival on Tuesday night. This was a direct and amiable big band performance, geared to a ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd and Branford Marsalis at The Blue Note Jazz Festival
by Paul Reynolds
Charles Lloyd Big Sky Quartet and the Branford Marsalis Quartet Town Hall The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York City June 28, 2025 Both Charles Lloyd and Branford Marsalis are saxophonists who lead classic quartets and share a similar position slightly left of center within the jazz world--comfortable with hopping genres but grounded in tradition. Yet their sets at a double bill at The Town Hall were strikingly different in tone and feeling.
Continue ReadingThe Maria Schneider Orchestra at Birdland
by Paul Reynolds
Maria Schneider Orchestra Birdland Jazz Club New York, NY May 30, 2025 The late set by Maria Schneider and her orchestra on Friday at Birdland Jazz Club was so engrossing as to be a world unto itself. Every aspect of the performance--even including, in the best way, the musicians' identities--bowed to Schneider's unique mix of ambitious themes and meticulously written and arranged orchestral music. The composer-arranger-conductor doesn't fit any mold but her own. ...
Continue ReadingMiguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo at Harlem Stage Gatehouse
by Paul Reynolds
Miguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo Harlem Stage Gatehouse Carnegie Hall Citywide New York, NY May 3, 2025 The duets between alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon and pianist Luis Perdomo are among the most affecting jazz collaborations of recent years, and the most acclaimed. The first of the duo albums they've recorded together, El Arte Del Bolero (Miel Music, 2021) was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy in 2022, and the second, El Arte Del ...
Continue Reading"Escalator Over The Hill" by The New School Studio Orchestra and Vocal Ensemble
by Paul Reynolds
The New School Studio Orchestra and Vocal Ensemble The Tishman Auditorium at The New School “Escalator Over The Hill" New York, NY May 2, 2025 Ask greying jazz-rock fans about long-lost projects they never saw live and Escalator Over The Hill by Carla Bley is likely to come up. Released as a triple album in 1971, Bley's wonky operatic creation --"A chronotransduction," in her lingo--has barely been performed, save for a 1998 tour of ...
Continue ReadingMiles Okazaki and Bill Frisell at the Miller Theater
by Paul Reynolds
Miles Okazaki and Bill Frisell The Miller Theater, Columbia University New York, NY April 15, 2025 When musicians collaborate for the first time, the setlist usually settles around shared music they love and often play. For guitarists Bill Frisell and Miles Okazaki, in their debut as a duo on Tuesday, that common ground turned out to be the compositions of Thelonious Monk. Although a generation apart--Frisell is 74 and Okazaki is 50--the two ...
Continue ReadingJason Moran at The Apollo Theater
by Paul Reynolds
Jason Moran Apollo Theater “Ellington in Focus" New York, NY April 11, 2025 The works of jazz's greatest composer, played brilliantly by a current master, alone at a concert grand piano. Jason Moran's solo tribute to Duke Ellington last Friday could have triumphed on any stage or in any context. “Ellington in Focus" gained special resonance, though, with the presence at the event of two other cultural touchstones. Looming over Moran as ...
Continue ReadingCecile McLorin Salvant at Carnegie Hall
by Paul Reynolds
Cecile McLorin Salvant Carnegie Hall “With Every Breath I Take" New York City March 27, 2025 “I'm nervous, so these are already a little clammy," announced Cecile McLorin Salvant as she removed her magenta gloves--part of a characteristically soigné outfit--early in her Carnegie Hall concert on Thursday. Jitters are understandable when playing the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, the biggest space at arguably the world's most famous venue. ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch and Donny McCaslin at Smoke Jazz Club
by Paul Reynolds
Fred Hersch with Donny McCaslin Smoke Jazz and Supper Club New York City March 14, 2025 The pairing of pianist Fred Hersch and saxophonist Donny McCaslin at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club was a dazzling demonstration of musical chemistry--a duo performance that far exceeded the sum of its parts. Both players listened closely and built solos architecturally, yet with careful economy. Their riveting duets, mostly on standards, felt almost composed, so tightly bound ...
Continue ReadingTerri Lyne Carrington's We Insist 2025! at Smoke Jazz Club
by Paul Reynolds
Terri Lyne Carrington We Insist! 2025 Smoke Jazz and Supper Club New York City March 7, 2025 How best to revisit a classic album of Civil Rights-era jazz activism two generations after the fact? If you are drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and you're re-imagining--her word--"We Insist! by Max Roach, you apply a deft hand that preserves the piece's political power and musical invention while subtly moving this masterwork to the present. In ...
Continue Reading
