Eric Scott Reed returns with his best album in years… five stars!
—The Times (London)
Master pianist Eric Scott Reed leads an invigorating top-shelf session, capturing the late-night vibrations of New York City
Released May 16 via Smoke Sessions Records, Out Late features trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth
Jazz musicians are nocturnal by nature. Almost as essential as time spent on the bandstand are the hours celebrated in the hang, where bonds are forged that inevitably feed back into the spirit and camaraderie of the music.
Those strong ties, lifelong relationships, and late-night revelries are vibrantly illustrated on Out Late, the exhilarating and inventive new album from pianist and composer Eric Scott Reed. Out May 16, 2025, via Smoke Sessions Records, Out Late boasts a striking stellar quintet whose members share deep histories as well as with the label’s namesake Manhattan club. The date features Reed with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
“Every city has its own late-night vibration,” says Reed. “No shade to Paris or Vegas or Philly or Los Angeles, but being in New York City is not like being anywhere else in the world. Out Late references the life of the musicians—the nightlife and the activity, the feeling and the energy of those NYC vibrations.”
Anyone who has followed Reed’s remarkable story in recent years will immediately catch the double meaning embedded in the title as well. Coinciding with the release of his revelatory 2023 Smoke Sessions album Black, Brown and Blue, Reed made the decision to exist openly in his sexuality, a decision that he feels has also led to a newfound openness and freedom in his musical life.
“Out Late, of course, is also a reference to finding myself much later in life,” he explains. “It’s about finally being able to embrace myself—my whole totality, my whole personage, who I am, who I love, why I do what I do, and how it's all intertwined.
It’s a new beginning, certainly – flagged in part by the pianist’s decision to add his middle name to his professional sobriquet—but Out Late also brings Reed full circle. In assembling the quintet of modern masters for this session, he has called on some of his earliest acquaintances.
“These are some of the first musicians that I met when I got on the scene,” he says. “Peter Washington and I are both alumni of Westchester High School in Los Angeles. He graduated a few years ahead of me, but by the time I moved to New York City in 1989, he was on the scene, and I was excited about the possibility of playing with him.The very first gig I did in the city as a leader was at Bradley’s with Peter Washington on bass.”
Not long after, Farnsworth and Payton both came into the fold, followed eventually by Alexander. Across the board, the band featured on Out Late represents more than three decades of shared experiences and treasured memories. In recent years, the members had all played together in varying configurations for Smoke’s annual year-end Coltrane Festival, which sparked the idea in Reed’s mind to bring them together for an exploratory session.
Their rich shared history, the mastery of the individual musicians, and Reed’s newly reinvigorated self-confidence all commingled to inspire him to trust in a more spontaneous atmosphere for this date.
“At this point in life, I'm just going with the flow,” Reed says.
“The entire vibration of this recording was exactly that: to just flow. I came in with some sketches of ideas, and we just let the music do what it needed to do. Then we just made ourselves present. When I call on musicians, I want them to bring everything they want to bring and make it truly a collaborative effort.”
That’s not to say that Reed went easy on his bandmates. “Eric’s compositions were very intricate and well planned out, and he gave them to us at a moment’s notice,” Alexander says. “Some of the tunes were in unusual keys or had strange forms that were challenging, but he wanted us to be challenged.
I was really amazed at how good the takes sounded because Nicholas and I were on pins and needles to play those ensembles and find our way through those chord mazes.”
“I’ve always respected Eric’s compositions and his melodic sensibilities,” adds Payton. “The very quirky way he puts tunes together is unconventional.”
“I didn’t want these guys to have to read or learn a lot of music,” Reed details. “But I definitely wanted to challenge them. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. Not that I didn't think it would sound good – I knew these cats would sound good – but just in the way that it sounded so good. I was surprised that I could pull that out of myself, produce on a high level, and be satisfied with the result.”
“I’ve never done a session quite like that, but am I surprised?” posits Payton. “Not necessarily, given the top-shelf line-up. He assembled the right cats to do that job.”
The pianist points out that every track on Out Late is a first take – an insistence that prioritized feeling and passion over perfection. The album was recorded in vintage fashion, with the whole band together in one room – no headphones, no overdubbing.
“We recorded this album the way cats used to do back in the day,” he says. “We rehearsed a song for a few minutes, and once everybody got the melody under their fingers, we went ahead and made a track while it was fresh. The energy is there; the rawness is there. Coleman Hawkins said, ‘If you're not making any mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.’”
For this band of jazz greats, virtuosity is more about feeling than precision, though more often than not, they achieve both. Out Late evokes the lively and spontaneous vibe of those throwback record dates and the wee hours excursions on the NYC scene. At the same time, it’s the statement of a mature artist, more comfortable than ever with his authentic self.
Eric Scott Reed will celebrate the album’s release: May 16 at Jazz at LACMA, Los Angeles, CA + June 25-29 at Smoke Jazz Club, New York City.
Out Late was produced by Paul Stache and Damon Smith, and recorded in New York City at Smoke Jazz Club “Daylight Session.” Available on limited edition LP, CD and audiophile HD formats.
Eric Scott Reed · Out Late
Smoke Sessions Records
Release Date: May 16, 2025
Catalog Number: SSR-2501
Released May 16 via Smoke Sessions Records, Out Late features trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth
Out Late Album Release Shows
May 16 at Los Angeles County Museum Of Art in Los Angeles & June 25-29, 2025 at Smoke Jazz Club in NYC.Jazz musicians are nocturnal by nature. Almost as essential as time spent on the bandstand are the hours celebrated in the hang, where bonds are forged that inevitably feed back into the spirit and camaraderie of the music.
Those strong ties, lifelong relationships, and late-night revelries are vibrantly illustrated on Out Late, the exhilarating and inventive new album from pianist and composer Eric Scott Reed. Out May 16, 2025, via Smoke Sessions Records, Out Late boasts a striking stellar quintet whose members share deep histories as well as with the label’s namesake Manhattan club. The date features Reed with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
“Every city has its own late-night vibration,” says Reed. “No shade to Paris or Vegas or Philly or Los Angeles, but being in New York City is not like being anywhere else in the world. Out Late references the life of the musicians—the nightlife and the activity, the feeling and the energy of those NYC vibrations.”
Anyone who has followed Reed’s remarkable story in recent years will immediately catch the double meaning embedded in the title as well. Coinciding with the release of his revelatory 2023 Smoke Sessions album Black, Brown and Blue, Reed made the decision to exist openly in his sexuality, a decision that he feels has also led to a newfound openness and freedom in his musical life.
“Out Late, of course, is also a reference to finding myself much later in life,” he explains. “It’s about finally being able to embrace myself—my whole totality, my whole personage, who I am, who I love, why I do what I do, and how it's all intertwined.
It’s a new beginning, certainly – flagged in part by the pianist’s decision to add his middle name to his professional sobriquet—but Out Late also brings Reed full circle. In assembling the quintet of modern masters for this session, he has called on some of his earliest acquaintances.
“These are some of the first musicians that I met when I got on the scene,” he says. “Peter Washington and I are both alumni of Westchester High School in Los Angeles. He graduated a few years ahead of me, but by the time I moved to New York City in 1989, he was on the scene, and I was excited about the possibility of playing with him.The very first gig I did in the city as a leader was at Bradley’s with Peter Washington on bass.”
Not long after, Farnsworth and Payton both came into the fold, followed eventually by Alexander. Across the board, the band featured on Out Late represents more than three decades of shared experiences and treasured memories. In recent years, the members had all played together in varying configurations for Smoke’s annual year-end Coltrane Festival, which sparked the idea in Reed’s mind to bring them together for an exploratory session.
Their rich shared history, the mastery of the individual musicians, and Reed’s newly reinvigorated self-confidence all commingled to inspire him to trust in a more spontaneous atmosphere for this date.
“At this point in life, I'm just going with the flow,” Reed says.
“The entire vibration of this recording was exactly that: to just flow. I came in with some sketches of ideas, and we just let the music do what it needed to do. Then we just made ourselves present. When I call on musicians, I want them to bring everything they want to bring and make it truly a collaborative effort.”
That’s not to say that Reed went easy on his bandmates. “Eric’s compositions were very intricate and well planned out, and he gave them to us at a moment’s notice,” Alexander says. “Some of the tunes were in unusual keys or had strange forms that were challenging, but he wanted us to be challenged.
I was really amazed at how good the takes sounded because Nicholas and I were on pins and needles to play those ensembles and find our way through those chord mazes.”
“I’ve always respected Eric’s compositions and his melodic sensibilities,” adds Payton. “The very quirky way he puts tunes together is unconventional.”
“I didn’t want these guys to have to read or learn a lot of music,” Reed details. “But I definitely wanted to challenge them. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. Not that I didn't think it would sound good – I knew these cats would sound good – but just in the way that it sounded so good. I was surprised that I could pull that out of myself, produce on a high level, and be satisfied with the result.”
“I’ve never done a session quite like that, but am I surprised?” posits Payton. “Not necessarily, given the top-shelf line-up. He assembled the right cats to do that job.”
The pianist points out that every track on Out Late is a first take – an insistence that prioritized feeling and passion over perfection. The album was recorded in vintage fashion, with the whole band together in one room – no headphones, no overdubbing.
“We recorded this album the way cats used to do back in the day,” he says. “We rehearsed a song for a few minutes, and once everybody got the melody under their fingers, we went ahead and made a track while it was fresh. The energy is there; the rawness is there. Coleman Hawkins said, ‘If you're not making any mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.’”
For this band of jazz greats, virtuosity is more about feeling than precision, though more often than not, they achieve both. Out Late evokes the lively and spontaneous vibe of those throwback record dates and the wee hours excursions on the NYC scene. At the same time, it’s the statement of a mature artist, more comfortable than ever with his authentic self.
Eric Scott Reed will celebrate the album’s release: May 16 at Jazz at LACMA, Los Angeles, CA + June 25-29 at Smoke Jazz Club, New York City.
Out Late was produced by Paul Stache and Damon Smith, and recorded in New York City at Smoke Jazz Club “Daylight Session.” Available on limited edition LP, CD and audiophile HD formats.
Eric Scott Reed · Out Late
Smoke Sessions Records
Release Date: May 16, 2025
Catalog Number: SSR-2501
For more information contact AMT Public Relations.
