The Jazz Loft's Harbor Jazz Festival: Winard Harper & Jeli Posse / Eric Alexander Trio

The Jazz Loft's 10th Annual Harbor Jazz Festival, which ran from Wednesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 20, 2025, offered high-caliber hits to please both jazz neophytes and the fully initiated. Things kicked off with an opening reception and the Frank Hansen-helmed Jazz Loft Trio running the venue's weekly jam session; newly-installed Stony Brook Director of Jazz Roxy Coss took the baton from there, putting her stellar saxophone work on display while showcasing her quartet on the following night; trumpet great Terell Stafford came into town with his quintet to set the weekend in motion in style; and more than a half dozen first-rate bands kept the music flowing outdoors, from midday through evening, on the festival's final day.

That free Saturday closer event, with two alternating stages, featured the Equity Brass Band's kickoff parade, performances from both the Mark Nikirk Quartet and Kelly Green Trio, and a closing concert from rising star vocalist Anaïs Reno. This writer sadly missed all four. Yet the two shows my camera and ears did catch—those from drummer Winard Harper & Jelli Posse, and saxophonist Eric Alexander's trio—left me wanting for nothing.

Harper, a veteran sticksmith who's worked with everyone from Betty Carter to Dexter Gordon to Billy Taylor and led and co- led his own stellar sessions, brought his signature flair and swing to bear on the music of Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, and Duke Ellington, among others. And Alexander, one of the great tenor titans of our time, with a hefty leader discography, notable dates as a member of collective One for All, and plenty of recorded captures with other fellow members from the Smoke scene and beyond, came to play. With a no-nonsense approach that blended class and fire, he proved commanding and captivating all at once.

The ephemeral joy of these afternoon sets was gifted only to those present. The photos, however, remain, offering evidence and a slight sense of the magic behind the beautiful music each of those two bands delivered.