Review: Saratoga Jazz Festival – Day 1 of 2

For all its stylistic variety, the 48th Saratoga Jazz Festival was maybe most “jazzy” in music urging social justice.

Festival producer Danny Melnick introduces Saturday’s first act at the Saratoga Jazz Festival

Saturday of the weekend-long two stage festival opened with the String Queens. The violin-viola-cello trio medleyed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “America the Beautiful” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” anthems for equality. They also blended Pachelbel’s Canon with the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and swung together 90s R&B and hip-hop; also “Summertime” with “Human Nature,” then “Isn’t She Lovely.” Most was, flowing smoothly, but pizzicato cello punched up “My Favorite Things” as violin and viola bowed hard, making fiery sound of the classical-into-jazz philosophy violinist Kendall Isodore called “putting some stank on Mozart.”

The Striing Queens – From left: Kendall Isidore, violin; Sharp, cello; Dawn Johnson, viola

The first of six acts on the Charles R. Wood Jazz Discovery Stage (hereafter the Wood) they set a daylong tone for free-range repertoire and music as social justice message; as singer Gregory Porter and blues guitarist-singer Gary Clark Jr. later followed.

Can’t recall seeing so many Sun Ra T-shirts anywhere; artists who came closest to that beyond-free-jazz icon were post-bop saxophonist Kenny Garrett who opened on the Amphitheater Stage (hereafter the Main) and Texas bluesman Clark, who closed there 11-1/2 hours later.

Kenny Garrett, center, saxophone

Parker-and-Coltrane disciple Garrett blew straight-ahead with confident force and free imagination, balancing spicy post-bop fire with the sweetness of Flora Purim-era Return to Forever fusion via Melba Santos’s vocals, an effective mix. 

Kenny Garrett and Melba Santos

Yo-yo-ing back to the Wood, I found Julius Rodriguez igniting a thrilling debut set, augmenting his trio with Artemis tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover in her best ‘Trane mode. The young pianist noted, “Kenny must be done; y’all are over here!” He then made it the place to be, to hear the most impressive new-to-me keyboard talent since Emmet Cohen, with blinding velocity or a tender touch, fertile melodic and harmonic imagination. Ballad-poignant in “Love Everlasting,” he also captured the late Roy Hargrove’s playful spirit in “Like You Dig.” He later guested with Veronica Swift while Glover played with her regular band, Artemis – “two paydays,” joked a fan.

Julius Rodriguez, piano, left; and Nicole Glover, tenor saxophone, center

Julius Rodriguez

For another pianist to follow Rodriguez could have seemed unfair, but veteran Latin-style virtuoso Michel Camilo held his own on the Main. Speed and soul in his explosive, pounding opener yielded beautifully into the gentler Argentine “A Place in Time.” But he mostly played spry and brisk, hands often rising shoulder high to pound the keys.

Michel Camilo

Michel Camilo Trio – From left: Camilo, piano; Ricky Rodriquez, bass; Mark Walker, drums

Saturday featured strong singers Nicole Zuraitis (on the Wood), Veronica Swift and Gregory Porter (both on the Main). Another newbie, trumpeter Keyon Harrold also sang as did his young sister Mayala, while Zydeco star C.J. Chenier (both on the Wood) sang as much as he played accordion.

Nicole Zuraitis, left; with Alex Busby, bass; Dan Pugach, drums; and Idan Morim, guitar

Like the String Queens, singer-pianist Nicole Zuraitis strayed from the jazz book, aiming her rich croon at Dolly Parton’s country hit “Jolene,” joking around in “I Like You a Latte,” goofy Valentine to the barista days of drummer-husband Dan Pugach, and medleying her own “20 Seconds” into “Wichita Lineman.” Guitarist Idan Morim closed her set with a blues, out of step with prior songs, but strong.

Idan Morim

Keyon Harrold, second from right, in fabulous pantaloons, with, from left, Shedrick Mitchell, piano; Andrew Renfroe, guitar; Dan Winshall, bass; and Charles Haynes, drums

No one capitalized more on the better-than-forecast weather than trumpeter-singer Keyon Harrold who brought a sunny vibe to the Wood. In billowing MC Hammer pants, he played agile trumpet, said “jazz lets the sunshine in” and sang in what seemed extemporaneous praise of the beautiful day. Singing sister Malaya duetted most persuasively in “Forever Land,” before Keyon’s trumpet Valentine’d the tender “Her Beauty Though My Eyes.” He’d brought the fierce earlier.

Malaya sings; Keyon Harrold, right, plays

Having admired and enjoyed Artemis at A Place for Jazz last fall, I opted instead for Veronica Swift and stayed for her full set in part to see if she spontaneously combusted.

Veronica Swift

“Animated” doesn’t come close: she dramatized everything with a Broadway diva’s intensity that would have seemed overdone if the music hadn’t worked. With the chops to be any kind of singer she wants, she seemed at times aspiring to be the next Patti Lupone, whom I once spotted in a Grateful Dead SPAC show; but I digress.

While her “Strangers in Town” true-tale torchy ballad and the Latin shuffle “The Sports Page” brought out her musical theater brass, Swift also sang, strong and rocking, “Sing” by her drummer Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls) and Queen’s “Dreamers Ball” and “Just Stay Alive.” She went autobiographical with “Born in a Trunk” about touring with her singer parents, Stephanie Nakisian, in attendance, and Hod O’Brien, RIP.

The contrast couldn’t have been greater between Swift’s powerhouse theatricality and the laid-back buttery croon of Gregory Porter who followed two acts later on the Main after a deliciously relentless funk-fest by Lettuce.

Lettuce – From left: Eric “Benny” Bloom, trumpet; Ryan Zoidis, saxophones; Nigel Hall (obscured), keyboards and vocals; Adam “Shmeeans” guitar; Erick “Jesus” Coomes, bass and hair; unidentified camera-person; Adam Deitch, drums

The Boston sextet jammed in soundcheck, “til we get it right,” then flowed straight into their set. Festival producer Danny Melnick went to the mic to introduce them, smiled and waved them on. In an earth-shaking riff explosion, Eric Coomes’s seismic bass hit like the thunderstorm that mercifully never happened Saturday. Groove melted into groove, like a P-Funk show; storming from sonic overwhelm to simmering at less heat, and surprising late with Tears For Fears’ pop hit “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

Per tradition at the Wood, Louisiana accordionist-singer C.J. Chenier closed with dance music that got the crowd up and happy. Their Zydeco zip had substance, though; they made dance-y music with veteran skill and conviction. Like others Saturday, they medleyed songs in jaunty jigsaw fluency, stacking “Bring It On Home To Me” with “It’s Alright” and “I Got a Woman.”

C.J. Chenier

Gregory Porter agleam in white, with band, from left: Chip Crawford, piano; Jahmal Nichols, bass; Tivon Pennicott, saxophone; Ondrej Pivec, organ

Cancelled flights consigned Porter and band to driving eight road hours to hit the Main 20 minutes late. They finished on schedule; less professional/more egotistical cats might have demanded their full set. Porter noted a sore backside at first but left the stage so happy he came down front first to shake fans’ hands. In between he crooned love songs; everything was a love song from the pathos of “Holding On” and “If Love is Overrated” to the universal compassion of ”Liquid Spirit,” the anti-poverty “Take Me to the Alley” and deceptively soft-spoken “Musical Genocide.” He wrapped this around a classic soul medley, “My Girl” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” then everybody sang “Keep Your Head to the Sky” in shared hope. Generous with voice and feeling, Porter, as always, was distinctly un-showy, apart from dancing Motown steps dance break.

Gregory Porter

Gary Clark Jr.

A change to more-dramatic stage lighting signaled bluesman Gary Clark Jr.’s Saturday-closing set, a rousing blues-and-beyond riff blitz. Adding three women singers to his combustible quartet of guitarist King Zapata, bassist Elijah Ford, drummer JJ Johnson and keyboardist Dayne Reliford sweetened his bracing blend of forceful guitar blasts and fervent vocals from baritone to sky-scratch falsetto. Guest trumpeter Keyon Harrold also boosted the high end.

Clark sang persuasively of romantic angst in “Fall for That” and contentment in “This Is Our Love,” and rage at injustice in “Don’t Owe You a Thing” and the mad-sad “What About Us.” He earned attention, as well as demanding it, in “The Guitar Man,” a mantle his playing deserved, big time. 

Gary Clark Jr. sings, second from left, as trumpeter Keyon Harrold, second from right, guests

Keyon Harrold was right; belying the forecast, it WAS a beautiful day. The only raindrops I saw dotted my windshield on the way home.

The String Queens

Kenny Garrett

Taking a bow – Nicole Zuraitis – she’s the one in black – and band

Applauding Nicole Zuraitis

Veronica Swift

Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff, guitar, left; Erick “Jesus” Coomes, bass

C.J. Chenier, accordion, with his Red Hot Louisiana Band

Gregory Porter feels the love

Gary Clark Jr, and singers

REVIEW: Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 26, 2025

Jeff Siegel Quartet – From left, Siegel; Chris Pasin, Rich Syracuse and Francesca Tanksley

A special sense of occasion enriched Thursday’s Jazz on Jay show by drummer Jeff “Siege” Siegel’s quartet of veteran straight-ahead players.

Philip Morris honors Tim Coakley

Coakley holds his plaque

The jazz community of musicians and fans filled Proctors Robb Alley, the series rainsite, to honor area jazz hero Tim Coakley as well as to hear the show. The drummer, long-tenured WAMC DJ and sparkplug of A Place for Jazz received a plaque from Proctors CEO Philip Morris and the plaudits of many friends including fellow Gazette retirees. Coakley has probably never been photographed so much in his long life as he was Thursday.

Siegel and pianist Francesca Tanksley, bassist Rich Syracuse and trumpeter and flugelhorn player Chris Pasin quickly turned the concert from social gathering into richly musical event. Longtime friends, the four are also fans of one another whose warm mutual regard filled the bandstand, and the house.

They played only originals, of a varied but mostly modernist mode; post-bop mid- and uptempo romps, entrancing ballads, a funk outburst and an Asian meditation.

“A New Freedom” hit a high altitude right out of the box; Pasin flying his flugelhorn confidently through and around the melody; he switched to trumpet later in the tune and was eloquent on both. Tanksley showed a profound McCoy Tyner influence in emphatic, pulsating chords and centrifugal scalar runs. Syracuse played just as swiftly while Siegel’s beat held everything together, and up.

“Inner Passion” honored Siegel’s recently deceased South African trumpeter friend Feya Taku (as “Ballad of the Innocent” did later), a mid-tempo waltz with a quiet ballad feel, a showcase for lyrical touches.

The uptempo “Finnegan’s Wake” – describing Syracuse’s grappling with James Joyce’s hallucinatory novel – opened things up again, highlighted by the bassist-composer’s droll solo.

Things went from high to higher as Siegel’s march-beat launched “Meter Made,” Pasin’s pun-title reflecting his admiration for the Meters whose New Orleans funk inspired it. Pasin plays this happy street-parade rip with all his bands, and it works with all of them; Thursday, it was full of playful spirit.

Siegel also kicked off “Dance In the Question,” a complex, episodic number with varied cadences. Tyner-esque piano power balanced a quiet trumpet interlude, a dancing bass break, then a drum solo with piano and bass support.

Siegel avoided imposing a drummer-centric over-emphasis on rhythm; the quartet grooved like a well-balanced machine, though this particular line-up had never played in public together before Thursday. Several trio sections where Pasin laid out proved they could have killed the place with piano, bass and drums only. But then we’d have missed the horn player’s melodic mastery, rhythmic push, going uptempo, and sweet simplicity on ballads.

Unaccompanied piano introduced “Ballad of the Innocent” that flowed into understated reverie where Pasin’s trumpet, shorn of his customary fire, ruled through simple phrasing and beautiful tone. Like the earlier “Question,” “Glimpse” used episodic structure to portray succeeding moods, Siegel clanging the bell of his ride cymbal to drive the hot spots to spirited effect. 

The meditative “Pagoda” tastefully steered clear of stereotypical Asian imitations; but Pasin’s trumpet explored melodic variations in a sequential way that tastefully echoed the tiered roof structure of this familiar temple design. 

Their concluding “Threads” stretched out from a cyclic bossa trio introduction as Pasin added bebop spice; then the whole thing flew in a happy upbeat bustle. Siegel caught the audience response to this driving flow and kept stretching things by cueing his band mates for more. At one point, he cued Pasin who had left the stage and had to hustle back to help build an extended coda that found his trumpet vamping on top as the rhythm section simmered below.

Afterward, the many musicians and fellow newspaper retirees in the crowd clustered around Tim Coakley in affectionate congratulation – another warm coda.

Jazz on Jay continues with Winelight on Thursday, July 3.

Set List

A New Freedom (Tanksley)

Inner Passion (Siegel)

Finnegan’s Wake (Syracuse)

Meter Made (Pasin)

Dance in The Question (Tanksley)

Ballad of the Innocent (Siegel)

Glimpse (Syracuse)

Pagoda (Pasin)

Threads (Siegel)

First Festival Sponsored by GE Vernova After 27 years under Freihofer Logo

By the time New Orleans giant Trombone Shorty blasts his last notes Sunday night on his slide-horn, 21 other acts – jazz, semi-jazz, or not jazz at all – will have played the 48th Saratoga Jazz Festival at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Biggest and by most measures best jazz blast hereabouts, it’s the first sponsored GE Vernova, and an enticing mix of instruments, voices, styles and sounds.

Trombone Shorty – Seen here playing The Egg in September 2023

On the two stages, this one skews young, mostly; a few including saxophonists Gary Bartz (84). Al Di Meola (70), Cassandra Wilson (69) and Kenny Garrett (64) are around non-musician retirement age.

Veronica Swift. Photo supplied

Veronica Swift (31) and Julius Rodriguez (26) clock in at the opposite demo. But this year’s line-up lacks the youth movement box-office power of last year’s hit, Icelandic pop singer Laufey (26) who drew hordes of fans younger than commonly turn up here. (She plays SPAC Aug. 9: A Night at the Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra – between a Gershwin and Bernstein program Aug. 8 and classic rockers Chicago Aug. 10.)

Staggered start times allow fleet-footed fans to catch at least some of everybody. Tough choices remain, however; choosing between acts playing simultaneously on the Amphitheater (I’ll call it the Main, in reviews) and Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage (likewise, the Wood). Tasting at least a bit of every artist, you’ll walk about 11,000 steps daily, in a beautiful place full of happy people, and worth it for what awaits on both ends.

Bria Skonberg – Playing A Place for Jazz last fall

The lineup includes superb singers Cassandra Wilson – my pick set of the Festival – Gregory Porter, Veronica Swift and Nicole Zuraitis; plus Bria Skonberg who also plays trumpet as well as she sings.

Terrific guitarists play both days: bluesman Gary Clark Jr., fusion force of nature Al DiMeola, funk-riffer Cory Wong and Dave Stryker (in the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars). Wilson’s band also features fine guitarists Marvin Sewell and Brandon Ross.

Al Di Meola. top. Photo supplied

Cory Wong, second from top. Photo supplied

La Excelencia. Photo supplied

Bands range from trios, notably Michel Camilo’s, to the 11-piece La Excelencia.

Gary Clark Jr. Photo supplied

Stylistic border-patrol purists might object to the zydeco of C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, blues by Gary Clark Jr., Cory Wong’s fiery funk; maybe Lettuce, too. But I expect to enjoy all four. 

Brandee Younger. Photo supplied

There’s a harpist, Brandee Younger; and a turntablist, DK Logic; the all-women ensembles Artemis and the String Queens, and the elder-statesman saxophonists Gary Bartz and Kenny Garrett. But apart from the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars, perennial favorites for their virtuoso tribute sets, no local acts will appear.

DJ Logic. Photo supplied

The crowds, however, are heavily non-local, pilgrimaging to Saratoga primarily from Northeastern cities; but also even from overseas. These are the most rainbow crowds this side of Schenectady’s Music Haven, and about the friendliest, too.

SATURDAY SET TIMES

Amphitheater Stage

1 p.m.: Kenny Garrett – Now 64, the Detroit saxophonist played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Miles Davis and others, and has led his own bands since 1984

1:45 p.m.: Michel Camilo Trio – Dominican-born pianist and composer, classically trained, bebop-inspired

3:30 p.m.: Veronica Swift – She began singing with her jazz musician parents Hod O’Brien and Stephanie Nakasian 

5:15 p.m.: Lettuce – Upbeat funk, with horns, by energetic Boston band 

7 p.m.: Gregory Porter – A bass-baritone voice like butter, especially great on ballads, famed for his hat

9 p.m.: Gary Clark Jr. – Texas blues guitarist, fire and soul, variety and force

Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage

11 a.m.: The String Queens – Classically-trained, soul-inspired string players; one of two all-women crews today

12:20 p.m.: Julius Rodriguez – Young Juilliard-trained pianist of Haitian descent

1:40 p.m.: Nicole Zuraitis – Grammy-winning singer and pianist with classical training and big-band experience 

3 p.m.: Keyon Harrold – Trumpet ace with jazz pedigree as one of 16 musical siblings, and crossover ambitions; first gig was with rapper Common

Artemis – Pianist/leader Renee Rosnes at left, playing A Place for Jazz last fall

4:20 p.m.: Artemis – All-woman virtuoso quintet of composers and bandleaders in their own right(s)

5:40 p.m.: C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band – Accordion-playing and singing son of Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier

SUNDAY SET TIMES

Amphitheater Stage

12:30 p.m.: Al Di Meola Acoustic Band – Last time here, he played solo; now he brings a fuller sound

2:10 p.m.: DJ Logic & Friends – Innovative turntable artist hybridizes hip-hop with jazz

3:50 p.m.: Cassandra Wilson – Celebrating her best ever album, “New Moon Daughter,” 30 years after release

5:30 p.m.: Cory Wong – Fiery funk guitar with fast urban energy

7:15 p.m.: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – He owns the honored Sunday night closing-set spot at Jazz Fest in his hometown of New Orleans; here, too

Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage

11:45 a.m.: Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars – Educators and performers play “lessons” from jazz tradition

1:10 p.m.: Brandee Younger Trio – Young harpist, fresh from a triumphant recent show at The Egg with Ravi Coltrane

2:40 p.m.: Bria Skonberg Quintet – Virtuoso, versatile singer and trumpeter

4:10 p.m.: Gary Bartz – Veteran saxophonist, the Festival’s oldest performer (See https://hokesjukebox.com/2025/06/25/jazz-master-gary-bartz-looks-back-and-ahead/)

5:45 p.m.: La Excelencia – New York salsa dura (rhythmic Latin jazz) big band: 11 players including lots of percussion

Gary Bartz. Photo supplied

Veteran Saxophonist Plays Sunday at 48th Saratoga Jazz Festival Presented by GE Vernova

Saxophonist Gary Bartz was 36 when SPAC presented its first jazz festival; he’d just released “Music Is My Sanctuary,” his 13th album in 10 years. His 31st as a leader hits next month.

“Before AND after,” he laughed when asked if he’d practiced his horns before our phone interview last week, or would do so afterward.

“Before AND after,” he stressed, as hard-working at 84 as when he came up with the Big M’s of jazz, mentors and band-mates Max Roach, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner. Bartz played SPAC’s jazz festival in Tyner’s band years ago, and plays Sunday leading his own.

Bartz recalled a star-studded history over the phone from home in Oakland, musing on the physics and mysticism of music.

Gary Bartz, at right, plays alto saxophone with McCoy Tyner, left, at piano. Photo supplied

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody this, but I dreamt I had played with Miles before I had ever played with him,” Bartz said. “So, when I started playing with him, it was like I had already played with him so I wasn’t in awe, like most guys were.”

Bartz said, “I started studying when I started listening. The greatest study of all Is listening, even more than playing your instrument, because you can do that 24 hours of the day.” He said, “You can dream music even if you can’t play it, but you can dream you’re playing it. When you get to play a song, when you get to the horn, you’ve already done it.”

CHARLIE PARKER DREAMS

His jazz dreams began at Sunday dinner in his grandmother’s Baltimore home, where his uncle Leon “Sharp” Bartz also lived – “Sharp” because he brought back from New York visits both sharp clothes and records unavailable in Baltimore. 

“One of those Sundays, I put on a Charlie Parker record and that was it – and it still is,” said Bartz.”I didn’t know it was a saxophone, I didn’t know if it was a man or a woman, I didn’t know what it was. It was just the most beautiful thing I had every heard and I made up my mind right then: That’s what I want to do.” 

He was six years old.

Lessons with a Mr. Holloway downtown taught him to read music, play pop songs and transcribe records by Charlie Parker, Tiny Bradshaw and Louis Jourdan. “Those were the best teachers because you can’t really teach this music,” Bartz said. “The only way to learn this music is to do it.”

Bartz left Baltimore after high school for Juilliard whose Eurocentric curriculum “made me understand the universality of music,” said Bartz.

He said, “Music is nothing but sound, put in a pleasing manner that people like; it sounds good.” He said, “How you do it, that’s up to the individuals. You can do it like Sly Stone, you can do it like Stravinsky.”

When Bartz met trombonist Grachan Moncur III and drummer Andrew Cyrille at Juilliard, “Becoming friends with them, I found out about the jam sessions and started meeting musicians and learning New York.”

SOUNDING LIKE HIMSELF

“As young musicians, when we were coming up, our main thing was to sound like ourselves,” he said. “We wanted people to hear us and immediately to say, ‘Well, that’s so and so.’ You hear a note or two of Miles Davis and you know that’s Miles. You hear Bird or Dizzy or Bud Powell and you know them, within a few notes. That’s what we were looking for.”

“He was my idol,” said Bartz of Wayne Shorter, recalling how trumpeter Lee Morgan introduced them when Bartz sat in a Morgan gig featuring Shorter. “Wayne took a break on ‘A Night In Tunisia’ and it changed my life. Just that one break…It made my eyes pop with the melodies. Whenever I think of Wayne, I think of possibilities.”

Bartz learned fast in his first bands; Max Roach, then Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Abbey Lincoln was singing with Roach then; years later, Bartz often worked with singers, notably Andy Bey. Bartz’s evolving style includes bebop note cascades, sensitive ballads and close accompaniment for singers and fellow players.

Bartz said. “It was easier when I started playing with McCoy and Miles and other people because I had already been taught the proper way by Max and Art. I was very lucky, that was a golden age.”

Max and Miles inspired Bartz as bandleader. “They were similar in the way that they treated their band members, like family,” he said. “It was always comfortable.”

Thelonious Monk strongly influenced Bartz as composer. Bartz wrote “Uncle Bubba” on McCoy Tyner’s “Dimensions” album to honor Monk and Sonny Rollins. “I loved the way Monk and Sonny played together,” he said. Monk’s nieces and nephews called him Uncle Bubba, as did Lester Young’s, as Bartz learned later. “To me, the name Uncle Bubba was universal because I’m sure many families had an Uncle Bubba.”

SPIRIT IN SOUND

Bartz has called Malcolm X and John Coltrane Buddha figures for “the way they made me feel, that I was in the presence of a spiritual being.” Bartz sees music as spiritual, mystical. “The Sufis believe that the big bang happened because of a note,” he said. “Like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan could sing a note and make a glass shatter; that’s how powerful sound is.”

Bartz learned how powerfully unifying music can be alongside Miles. “Playing the Isle of Wight in 1970 (with Miles’s Bitches Brew band), there were over 600,000 people, and I saw how music unites.” 

To build that unity, Bartz emphasizes deep knowledge through shared focus. 

TOTAL FOCUS

“I need a band that can hear and that knows the music so they don’t have to turn the pages and look at (sheet) music,” said Bartz. “If you are reading something and trying to listen, part of your brain is on the paper, the other part is in the melody. This music needs total focus, and it has to be your full attention.”

Over 30 albums as leader and 100 as sideman, Bartz has used that focus to build unity while maintaining his independence. “I appreciate the fact that I was able to record what I wanted to record,” he said. “Wait until they hear the new record! I think they’re gonna be shocked!” 

Called “Damage Control,” it’s due next month; recorded in Los Angeles with many musician friends. “Maybe people won’t be so shocked,” he mused, reconsidering. 

“They know I might do anything.”

Gary Bartz. Photo supplied

Bartz plays Sunday at 4:10 p.m. at the Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage with Kassa Overall, drums; Paul Bollenback, guitar, and Reuben Rogers, bass.

Information and tickets: http://www.spac.org.

Preview – Jeff Siegel Quartet at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 26, 2025

Making music with modern masters, plus conservatory training, taught tradition to the all-star members of the straight-ahead style Jeff Siegel Quartet. With big-name credits as players, they all also boast ambitions and achievements as composers.

“Likely ninety percent of the songs (they’ll play Thursday) will be originals, versus standards,” says Siegel, the well-traveled drummer, composer and teacher. His quartet features pianist Francesca Tanksley, trumpeter Chris Pasin and bassist Rich Syracuse, his longtime bandmate in Lee Shaw’s trio.

Jeff Siegel. Photo, and fan-dog, supplied

Siegel has toured Europe 30 times as leader or co-leader, plus shows and festivals in Africa and South America; the latest with the Levin Brothers right after their Caffe Lena show. He has also worked with Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Benny Golson, Sheila Jordan, Helen Merrill, Mose Allison, John Medeski, Arthur Rhames, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Kurt Elling, Ravi Coltrane, Ryan Kisor, Hal Galper, Dena DeRose and other straight-ahead players, plus avant garde explorers Wadada Leo Smith and Baikida Carroll. 

With a Masters in jazz from Queens College, Siegel teaches at SUNY New Paltz, Western Connecticut State University, Vassar and the New School. His albums showcase original compositions including “King of Xhosa” (2017) with South African trumpeter Feya Faku (sadly, recently deceased), “London Live” (2018), “When You Were There” (2019) and “Brazilian Conversations” with the Levin Brothers and Emilio Martins (2025).

Pianist Francesca Tanksley was born in Italy, grew up in Germany and trained at Berklee. In New York she played with Melba Liston, then in Billy Harper’s quintet; and has also worked with Clifford Jordan, Cecil Payne, Bill Hardman and Erica Lindsay. She leads her own quintet, co-leads the Erica Lindsay/Howard Johnson Quintet and teaches at Berklee and Bard College. Her debut album “Journey” hit in 2002.

After training at the New England Conservatory, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Chris Pasin played in Buddy Rich’s big band, accompanying singers Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan and others. His albums “Detour Ahead” (2009) and “Random Acts of Kindness” (2015) showcase originals while “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (2017) reinvents Christmas music and “Ornettiquette” (2018) celebrates Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and Don Cherry. 

Siegel’s longtime bandmate with Lee Shaw, bassist Rich Syracuse played Jazz on Jay last Thursday with Steve Horowitz and has played for ballet and opera companies in addition to jazz giants Nick Brignola, Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, the Brubeck Brothers, both Brecker brothers, Jimmy Cobb, Bernard Purdy, Eddie Henderson, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Warren Bernhardt, John Medeski and many more. He teaches at Skidmore, Bard, SUNY New Paltz and the Hotchkiss School.

They all also value spontaneity and freshness. “Each time we perform a piece, whether a standard or original, should involve solos and interplay and even melodic interpretation that is different,” says Siegel. “All of our concepts of studying music come into focus no matter what music we are playing.”

Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square, the new park space opposite Schenectady City Hall. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors at Robb Alley, but patrons are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments to Jay Square.

Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District and sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, The Schenectady Foundation, Price Chopper/Market 32, MVP Health Care, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative. This blog is a series media sponsor.

Jazz always gangs up on the calendar around SPAC’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29.

Stay tuned for festival info with a Gary Bartz interview.

We’ve talked about Mark Kleinhaut’s new In This Moment trio debuting at Spring Street Gallery on Wednesday. Lots more follows.

Thursday is a coin-toss: the Royal Bopsters sing at Caffe Lena (47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs), while Joe Barna adds four-time Grammy winning saxophonist Ralph LaLama to his band at the Van Dyck (237 Union St. Schenectady).

The Royal Bopsters; Jeanne O’Connor second from left. Photo supplied

Area singer Jeanne O’Connor is the familiar face and voice in the New York-based Royal Bopsters, which she calls “a bebop vocal quartet.” The New Yorker hails them as “expert practitioners of vocalese,” the jazz art of adding lyrics to instrumentals, as practiced by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and Manhattan Transfer.

O’Connor has previously played Caffe Lena with her New Standard band and a trio with Peg Delaney and Pete Toigo.

The Royal Bopsters – O’Connor, Amy London, Tomas Cruz and Dylan Pramuk – will sing with pianist Will Gorman, bassist Dean Johnson and local hero drummer Bob Halek. They’ll likely sing “But Not For Me,” Freddy Hubbard’s “Red Clay,” Tadd Dameron’s “Our Delight” and “On a Misty Night,” Tito Puente’s “Cuando Te Vea” and some originals. ”I will probably sing a new version of ‘The Sweetest Sounds,’ co-arranged by Peg Delaney and John DiMartino – part of a new solo CD I am working on,” says O’Connor. The Royal Bopsters followed their self-named debut album (2015) with “Party of Four” (2020).

The Royal Bopsters perform as part of the Caffe’s Peak Jazz series. 7 p.m. $34.72 general, $30.37 members, $17.35 children and students. 518-583-0022 www.caffelena.org

Joe Barna, performing last summer Jazz on Jay

Also Thursday, area drummer, composer, bandleader and jazz catalyst Joe Barna welcomes guest tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama to the Van Dyck, joining Barna,  keyboardist John Esposito and bassist Jason Emmond. Since training at SUNY Schenectady and SUNY Purchase, Barna has become one of the busiest and most valued jazz heroes hereabouts, leading or contributing to several bands and presenting shows in new venues.

Ralph Lalama. Photo supplied

Lalama came up through the Woody Herman, Buddy Rich and Mel Lewis big bands but most often plays in smaller groups such as Barna’s. He’s led or guested on a dozen albums since 1985, earning four Grammys along the way. “Staycation” (2022), perfect title for a COVID-time album, is his latest. Small plates in the upstairs music room; full dinners downstairs. 7 p.m. show, doors 6:30. $20 advance, $25 door. 518-630-5173. www.stellapastabar.com

WAMC jazz DJ and A Place for Jazz maestro Bill McCann hosts this show, a presentation of the NPR station’s new WAMC On the Road series of remotes.

COZY JAZZ FESTIVAL ENCORES AT SKIDMORE

As part of its annual summer Jazz Institute, Skidmore presents two groups next week after each played SPAC’s Saratoga Jazz Festival. Both shows are free; both start at 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, July 1, the all-women Artemis quintet plays the Zankel, and on Thursday, July 3, the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars returns to campus to play there. 

Artemis at A Place for Jazz last fall; Renee Rosnes at left

Next Tuesday’s show marks the third by Artemis since they played A Place for Jazz last fall. Pianist, composer and leader Renee Rosnes leads Ingrid Jensen, trumpet; Nicole Glover, saxophone; Noriko Ueda, bass; and Allison Miller, drums.

Skidmore Jazz institute Faculty All-Stars at Saratoga Jazz Festival 2024

On Thursday, the Zankel presents the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars: bassist, leader and dry-as-the-Sahara host Todd Colman; Jimmy Greene, saxophone; Clay Jenkins, trumpet; Steve Davis, trombone; Dave Stryker, guitar; Bill Cunliffe, piano; and Dennis Mackrel, drums.

NEARBY…

Keyboardist/composer/everything man Jon Batiste plays Saturday at Tanglewood, coincidentally the first day of the Saratoga Jazz Festival. Always brilliant, Batiste is sometimes jazz, as when he played in Cassandra Wilson’s band at The Egg, his area debut. A graduate of Skidmore’s Jazz Institute, he bravely filled in for the irreplaceable Sharon Jones, fronting the Dap Kings to close SPAC’s 2018 Jazz Festival.

PREVIEW: New, Improvising Jazz Trio Creates on the Fly

Jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut introduces his new trio, In This Moment, Wednesday, June 25 at the Spring Street Gallery.

Kleinhaut played the cozy Gallery regularly before COVID, then turned to online performing, mostly solo. His videos showcase a tasteful amplified-acoustic guitar sound whose warm charm feels invitingly comfortable even when he ventures off the map of conventional song forms. Building a new band with longtime cellist Ed Green and new singer Shiri Zorn, the guitarist-composer-leader expands that elegance-with-freedom approach.

The trio seems his natural habitat and most frequent context on more than half of his dozen or so albums.

Shiri Zorn often sings without words. Her low-pressure restraint leaves room to add regional influences onto either standards or free improvisations. On her two albums – fellow singer Tierney Sutton produced her debut “Into Another Land” and “Looking for the Light” just arrived – and you’ll hear Middle Eastern minor key explorations or spry bossa bounce. Even without words, you can hear her meaning.

Green first trained on trombone before moving to bass, then cello; so he plays more emphatic rhythms than most string players, plus horn-players’ breath-shaped phrasing. He played in (fellow trombonist) Kai Winding’s Septet and local hero Lee Shaw, plus jazz and pop stars including Nancy Wilson, Charlie Byrd, the Temptations, Tom Jones, Paul Anka and many more.

Longtime bandmates, Kleinhaut and Green smoothly leave space for one another and support each other’s solos. Kleinhaut comps chords behind Green’s pizzicato runs and Green plucks or bows chords behind Kleinhaut. Zorn has learned this language and fits and flows fluently with the guys.

Show time for In This Moment is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 at Spring St. Gallery (110 Spring St., Saratoga Springs). 20 in advance, $25 at the door eventbrite.com

Review: Steve Horowitz Quartet at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 19, 2025

Brevity may be the soul of wit, as the saying goes. To trot out another tired truism/cliche; in jazz brevity may seem honored more in the breach than the observance. In other words, it can feel scarce when players stretch, jam and explore.

Not Thursday at Jazz on Jay before likely the largest-ever indoor show in the series. Onstage at  the bad-weather site in Proctors Robb Alley, the Steve Horowitz Quartet mostly kept things concise, cool and calm; swinging at medium tempos. They earned the title “I’m Old Fashioned,” one of 11 antique standards they dusted off with unfailing elegant understatement.

The Steve Horowitz Quartet, from left: Cliff Brucker, drums; Rich Syracuse (behind mic stand)’ Steve Horowitz, trumpet; and Larry Ham, piano

Noting he seldom leads a gig or session, Horowitz introduced his sidemen as the veteran players and old friends they clearly are: Larry Ham, piano; Rich Syracuse, electric upright bass; and Cliff Brucker, drums.

“Road Song” set the upbeat mood; this road had the occasional yellow-light of a stop and go groove, but they avoided the fast lane as everybody soloed in turn: trumpet, piano, bass and drums, clocking in at seven minutes; “Sweet Pumpkin,” another easy swinger, ran eight, even with Horowitz cueing Ham to stretch his solo, enjoying the groove.

Everybody played within themselves, never going far outside or pushing too hard. The vibe was cooperative, respecting the tunes and composers; but it didn’t lack for personality as their phrasing supplied. Horowitz chose some tunes for their association with other trumpeters: “Sweet Pumpkin” with Blue Mitchell, “Up Jumped Spring” with Freddie Hubbard, “Uno Mas” with Kenny Dorham. However, “I Told You So” paid tribute to Dexter Gordon, they grabbed “Triste” from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s deep songbook, and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from “My Fair Lady.” This one was loverly; a delicious ballad in the quartet’s confident hands.

They hit their highest altitude in a rousing trio romp through “It’s You Or No One,” their fastest riffs – Horowitz’s rapid scalar trumpet runs – in “Triste.” He switched to flugelhorn in the middle of “Up Jumped Spring,” luxuriating in its mellow sound through about half the 90-minute set.  

Every tune clocked in at under 10 minutes, and this economy worked well for them. Inventive players, their solos had their say then yielded to the next cat. Ham really shone in “I’m Old Fashioned,” Syracuse owned “It Could Happen to You” and “One Mint Julep” while Brucker brought the power in swapping fours at the codas of many tunes and made the most of his solo breaks, especially “Triste” where he stirred a happy uproar.

The rhythm section played “It’s You Or No One” as a trio, spry and strong.

Always tasteful, coloring inside the lines, Horowitz enjoyed his players as much as anybody but took a back seat to nobody; an elegant soloist of swinging clarity.

Fans filed into Robb Alley in such numbers that the crews scrambled to set up more chairs. Some had gone originally to Jay Square, the Jazz on Jay outdoor venue. and arrived relieved to escape the heat. Singers Kaitlyn Koch and Jody Shayne sat side by side among the many musicians who especially enjoyed classic tunes without frills.

Setlist

Road Song

Sweet Pumpkin

Up Jumped Spring

Wouldn’t It Be Loverly

I Told You So

It’s You or No One

I’m Old Fashioned

Triste

It Could Happen To You

Uno Mas

One Mint Julep

MORE JAZZ? COMING RIGHT UP

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Michael Benedict leads his straight-ahead Boptitude quintet at the Van Dyck (237 Union St., Schenectady). It’s no. 008 in the Van Dyck’s Thirdsday Nite series; third Thursday of each month. Tonight, it’s Benedict, drums; with David Gleason, piano; Mike Lawrence, bass; Chris Pasin, trumpet; and Brian Patneaude, saxophone. 7:30 p.m. $20 at the door. 

Jazz on Jay continues next Thursday, June 26 at noon with the Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet, co-starring bassist Rich Syracuse. They were bandmates for decades behind pianist Lee Shaw. 

And, as Horowitz announced, the BWC Jazz Orchestra, which Brucker co-leads with trumpeters Steve Weisse and Dylan Canterbury, plays the Caroga Lake festival July 19.

Review: Todd Nelson’s JazzAmericana at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 12, 2025

Everybody knows “Wichita Lineman,” but Jimmy Webb’s melancholy road song went all fresh in Todd Nelson’s hands Thursday. 

We all knew what it was, but it was new. 

JazzAmericana – From left: Todd Nelson, guitar; Justin Tracy, drums; Kyle Esposito, fretless electric bass

The longtime Albany guitarist and one-time rock star with Silver Chicken, the Units/Fear of Strangers and other past-decades crews, started it slow and meditative. Soon his imagination brought a new vision into focus. Adding complexity in chords and melody to the familiar tune, he added new twists and turns, plus effects from the pedals at his feet. All original, and all lovely.

Todd Nelson

Apart from “Lineman” and Dave Holland’s complex, episodic “The Backwoods Song,” JazzAmericana played Nelson originals (see setlist), reinventing each after initial melodic statements; though some of those flowed wild and oblique. Nelson’s inventions augmented without wandering too far outside; his clarity of tone and thought those of a thinking fans’ guitar hero. 

The 90-minute set, standard at Jazz on Jay, mused thoughtfully from the vintage opener “Blacksmith,” then the similarly serene and more recent “Peregrine.” Both set a structure followed thereafter: Nelson led a trio intro, then soloed, then handed off to bassist Kyle Esposito whose contributions often sped things up or held the tempo but went more dense. Justin Tracy’s drums held the pulse, mostly, but also pushed and pulled some. Nelson usually brought things home in his second break.

Kyle Esposito

His ringing, chiming chords launched “Paper Machete” in circular motion, then went deep before coming back up in bluesy runs. Esposito made a bold grab, playing up high and fast, before Nelson held the mood with sustained echoing licks resolved in a melodic cascade.

Next, Esposito launched “Springland” with a bassline borrowed from the Allman Brothers’ anthemic “Whipping Post” before Nelson steered the whole thing into a sunny reggae waltz. They used a similar detour surprise in Holland’s “Backwoods Song,” the main melody emerging from repeating riffs that built momentum in one direction before taking another.

The slower, sweeter “Sophist Intrigue” (name of the band Nelson led at 11) pumped some Allmans spice in agile repetitions that broke out into hard-driving variations. Nelson acknowledged Tracy’s drumming afterwards; he was right.

Justin Tracy

They held this upbeat energy into “Space Jelly,” using repetition again to build momentum before they pumped the brakes with a hard stop. Then a mood and tempo change in “Dream Alibis” showed how well Nelson’s clarity fits ballads, with single (and sometimes bent) notes etching a pleasing melody. Esposito played in that same eloquent simplicity, high up in a short break before Nelson recapped with a shimmering delicacy. 

Similar title but way different mood: “Dog Dreams” bounced all playful in energetic riff variations – before Nelson downshifted at the bridge into a more meditative mood; Esposito and Tracy perfectly matching the flow.

Then “Wichita Lineman,” Nelson’s discrete wah-wah and reverb taking its elegant pop purity into new directions. “In Stride” had the momentum its title suggests, but surprised as much as “Lineman” – as if twang master Duane Eddy (RIP) roamed around a shuffle until it carried him into higher registers, with discrete but effective echo.

In “Dune Buggy,” melodic playfulness set up repeating riffs, and Tracy got the only solo of the set, in its last song. Here, Nelson played further outside than usual, strumming behind the bridge in staccato treble scratches, ganging up on the tune with pedal effects.

Handing Off – Todd Nelson, center, hands off the solo spot to Kyle Esposito, right; as Justin Tracy, left, holds down the beat.

Although Nelson only formed JazzAmericana in January, he’d played with both Esposito and Tracy in previous bands, so the trio has already reached a fine-tuned, telepathic closeness that was serious fun to hear.

The weather behaved, mostly – though wind blew the sign on nearby Tara Kitchen so it swung as hard as the band.

SETLiST

Blacksmith

Peregrine

Paper Machete

Springland

The Backwoods Song

Sophist Intrigue

Space Jelly

Dream Alibis

Dog Dreams

Wichita Lineman

In Stride

Dune Buggy 

Jazz on Jay continues Thursday, June 19 with the Steve Horowitz Quartet. Even sooner, crews half a block away were busy as Nelson, Esposito and Tracy wrapped up, erecting a stage where Da Schmooze would play at five p.m., another free show.

A fan, center, wears Fear of Strangers T-Shirt