Preview: Kaitlyn Fay Album Release at Van Dyck Music Club Friday, Aug. 1

While Kaitlyn Fay’s debut album “Curiosity” examined classic jazz tunes, she reaches further, as songwriter and co-producer, on “Cockeyed Optimist” – introduced Friday in a live show at the Van Dyck Music Club.

“I will be singing, and, for one tune, briefly, playing flute;” says Fay, “and I will be joined by Dave Gleason, keyboard, and Wyatt Ambrose, guitar;” they also play on the album. 

Kaitlyn Fay sings at Schenectady PorchFest 2024. Michael Hochanadel photo

These lean trio arrangements suit her light, easy-flowing style well, creating a confidently warm intimacy that makes the album an engaging, cozy listen. She sings within the songs, but occasionally reaches past the melody to improvise in wordless passages of quiet grace; as in the album’s compelling original, “Worthy.” It all swings easy, low pressure.

“Since recording my first album of jazz standards in 2013, I have grown immensely as a vocalist and artist,” says Fay. “Listening back to ‘Curiosity,’ I hear a completely different singer.”

She attributes this growth as performer in part to the support of musical colleagues here. In addition to leading small groups as vocalist, she has also performed in others’ groups, notably as baritone saxophonist in Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble. Pray co-produced “Cockeyed Optimist” at his 318 Studio in Rotterdam in April.

“A big part of what made this album possible is the support and trust I have found in the Capital Region jazz community,” says Fay. “Making music, especially singing, is such a personal and vulnerable process and experience.” She particularly credits co-producer Pray and her accompanists on the album – and at the Van Dyck Friday – Gleason and Ambrose as “prime examples of the many local jazz musicians who have helped me to feel more confident in my abilities and safe enough to take artistic risks.”

With that support, Fay has found “What has surprised me most, after recording this album, is that I now feel a distinct drive to write more original songs.” 

She says, “The album contains three original songs, out of 14 tracks.” Both “The Love in Your Eyes” and “Old Time Revival Blues” are collaborations with Gleason, while she wrote both words and music on “Worthy.” She also wrote original lyrics for John Clayton, Jr.’s “3000 Miles to Go” and Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream.” She says, “Fun fact: I first debuted these original lyrics at Schenectady Porchfest 2024!”

At the Van Dyck Friday, she plans to sing all 14 tunes on the album, plus another that didn’t make it onto the recording.

Track List & Composer/Lyricist Credits 

1. Cockeyed Optimist (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) 
2. Hurry, It’s Lovely Up Here (Burton Lane, Alan Jay Lerner) 
3. I Like You, You’re Nice (Blossom Dearie, Mariah Blackwolf [aka Linda Alpert]) 
4. How About You? (Burton Lane, Ralph Freed) 
5. This Can’t Be Love (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) 
6. Every Time I’m With You (Harry Grant, Herb Wasserman, Woody Harris) 
7. 3000 Miles Ago (John Clayton Jr., Kaitlyn Fay) 
8. Nica’s Dream (Horace Silver, Kaitlyn Fay) 
9. I Thought About You (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer) 
10. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (David Mann, Bob Hilliard) 
11. Worthy (Kaitlyn Fay) 
12. The Love in Your Eyes (David Gleason, Kaitlyn Fay) 
13. Just In Time (Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green) 
14. Old Time Revival Blues (David Gleason, Kaitlyn Fay) 

Kaitlyn Fay, vocals and flute; David Gleason, piano; Wyatt Ambrose, guitar. All three collaborated on arrangements.

Gleason also performs in the Art D’Echo Trio, Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble and other groups while Ambrose leads the Killdeer Trio. Among many appearances, Art D’Echo Trio played Jazz on Jay this season, and the Killdeer Trio opened last season. Fay played Jazz on Jay in 2023.

“My purpose in recording this album was to mark this point in my life, my performance career, and my sound,” says Fay, “because I can now look back at where I started and see just how far I’ve come in my development.”

Showtime 7:30 p.m. Tickets $10 advance, $15 door. 

Preview: The Nicholas Dwarika Quartet at Jazz on Jay Thursday, July 31, 2025

Some members of the Nicholas Dwarika Quartet played Jazz on Jay in 2021 as the Center Square Jazz Collective when most were still in high school.

Thursday marks an encore of sorts for Dwarika, bass; Bohdan Kinal, saxophone; Dan Jantson, drums and Luke Coyne Connolly, piano. Since then, all have since gone on to play in Michael Benedict’s Jazz Vibes, Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble, the WBC Big Band, the Tim Olsen Quartet, the Platters, the Bohdan Kinal Quartet, the Dan Jantson Quartet and others.

The Nicholas Dwarika Quartet. At top, Dwarika, left, and Jantson. At bottom, Kinal, left, and Connolly. Photo provided

They’ve also continued formal studies and now often play music of modernist young composers.

Inspired by Stevie Wonder and Johnny Hodges, Dwarika attended the College of St. Rose and the Crane School of Music and has studied with Mike Lawrence, John Geggie, Keith Pray, David Gleason, Dr. Michael Dudley Jr, and Dr. Jimmy Greene. After attending All Ears Jazz and the Skidmore Jazz Institute, he’s on the staff of each. “The SJI has been very impactful for me,” says Dwarika, citing lessons with Jimmy Greene, Todd Coolman, David Wong and Bill Cunliffe and noting he’ll soon begin a masters program at Western Connecticut State University.

Connolly started playing classical piano at five; John Nazarenko started him playing jazz at 16, and he studied with Michael Dudley, Jim Petercsak, and Judy Lewis at Crane. His musical inspirations include pianists Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, plus non-pianists Art Blakey, Roy Hargrove and Freddie Hubbard. 

Son and brother of music teachers, Dan Jantson has studied with Chad Ploss, Jason Tiemann, Charles Goold and Johnathon Barber and now studies music production and technology at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. Inspired by Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, he became a hard-bop fan, with Art Blakey and Roy Haynes as major influences.

Bohdan Kinal’s first musical hero was Sonny Rollins, and he has learned both through peers Josh Klamka and Aidan Doyle and teachers including Brian Patneaude, Jim Corgliano and Gary Bartz, a current teacher at Oberlin Conservatory. 

In an essential lesson, Kinal says Bartz told him, “If I listen to the notes closely enough, they will tell me where they want to go and want to be.” Bartz performed with his quartet at the Saratoga Jazz Festival presented by GE Vernova in late June, playing alto saxophone and singing. The Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty Combo also played the same festival.

Gary Bartz at Saratoga Jazz Festival presented by GE Vernova. Michael Hochanadel photo

In Thursday’s encore/return engagement, the Nicholas Dwarika Quartet will play music by contemporary composers including Braxton Cook’s “Ooooo,” Brandee Younger’s “Reclamation” and pieces by Corto.alto (Liam Shortfall); plus works by more familiar artists: Kenny Wheeler’s “Kind Folk” and Bill Evans’s “Interplay.” They’ll also play original compositions by Kinal.

While Thursday marks the debut of this quartet line-up, Connolly says, “I’ve been playing with Nick for about three years starting in college, and I’ve played a few gigs with Dan and Bohdan.” He also plays in the indie folk band New American Cuisine.

“We generally approach standards straight on like most musicians, and add our twists and personal experiences throughout the music,” Dwarika says. “We try our best to learn the tunes from the recordings we like by ear. We practice the standards harmonically while having our improvisation be more melodic.”

“There’s is quite a lot of room for improvising in the band,” Dwarika explains. “We say as long as you do it confidently, having fun, and keep the tradition true, you have free rein.”

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. 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 on Jay continues Thursday, Aug. 7 with Heard.