Jazz Articles about Ben Collins-Siegel

Introducing Pianist Ben Collins-Siegel

by Sanford Josephson
July 2, 2025

I first saw Ben Collins-Siegel play piano in July 2019 at the Roselle Park Jazz Festival. Then a 12-year-old seventh grader at Maplewood Middle School, he led off a performance by the JTole Jazz Orchestra of Thad Jones' “Counter Block," written for the Count Basie Orchestra. It was stunning. JTole stands for Julius Tolentino, the Jazz Director at Livingston, NJ's Newark Academy and Director of the RP Festival. Collins-Siegel had already been studying with Tolentino and began attending ...