Saratoga-accessible, New York City hip, Jeanne O’Connor sings fresh tunes from her new album Friday at Caffe Lena – her 15th showcase here since moving from New York; you know, that other jazz city.

Her “The Sweetest Sounds” album releases next year, so this preview unwraps a new package, each song a surprise.

Friday, she sings with well-known area talents bassist Todd Coolman, guitarist Dave Stryker and drummer Bob Halek, plus New York City pianist John di Martino. She’ll also bring up special guests Amy London and drummer Sam Zucchini. Both Coolman and Stryker played Sunday at SPAC’s Saratoga Jazz Festival with the Skidmore Jazz Institute All-Star Band, and London sings with O’Connor in the Royal Bopsters, a New York City vocal quartet.

Jeanne O’Connor. Photo provided

Even before moving to Saratoga Springs, O’Connor performed here regularly, at Justin’s in Albany, Upbeat on the Roof at Skidmore’s Tang Teaching Museum, “A Place For Jazz” in Schenectady and shows sponsored by the Swingtime Jazz Society and the Saratoga Arts Festival. 

In New York, she’s sung at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim, the Blue Note, Birdland and the Rainbow Room.

Both regional artists and New York-based players support O’Connor on “The Sweetest Sounds” – as if she recorded it aboard a Hudson River Dayliner.

In addition to those local stars onstage with her at Caffe Lena Friday, the album features New Yorkers percussionist Mino Cinelu, trumpeter Randy Brecker and keyboardist/accordion player Gil Goldstein, also di Martino who’s on Friday’s show. Both Brecker and Goldstein played often with O’Connor’s late husband Don Grolnick, a respected keyboardist, producer and composer whose credits include top pop and rock stars James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Barry Manilow (who sang his farewell to Albany this week on his final tour), Steely Dan and others. Valued also in the jazz world, he played with Steps Ahead, Dreams, the Brecker Brothers, John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Dave Holland and many more.

O’Connor honors her late husband’s memory on her new/unreleased album by singing their collaboration “Medianoche” from his Grammy-nominated album of the same title. Here O’Connor’s emotionally complex performance leaves the listener with uplift.

Poignant power marks other new tunes, and local connections. Our own pianist/composer/bandleader Peg Delaney wrote the vocal skat section of the album’s title track and opener. And O’Connor wrote lyrics to a melody by too-soon-departed area pianist Scott Bassinson for “My October Song.” Saxophonist Keith Pray, who played on many Bassison recordings, plays on “My October Song” and “The Sweetest Things.”

“This album brings together songs that have lived with me over time — from the Great American Songbook to contemporary classics and original material,” says O’Connor in the news release announcing both album and show.

“The Sweetest Things” collects Songbook classics including the title track (Richard Rodgers), “The Great City” (Curtis Reginald Lewis), “Charade” (Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer), “Baltimore Oriole” (Hoagy Carmichael/Paul Francis Webster), “My Ship” (Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin), “Once Upon A Time” (Charles Strouse), and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart).

Both originals are collaborations: “Medianoche (Don Grolnick/Jeanne O’Connor), and “My October Song” (Scott Bassinson/Jeanne O’Connor).

The contemporary pop tunes swing in classic style: “Wichita Lineman” (Jimmy Webb [we were born on the same day, but I digress]) and “Save The Country” (Laura Nyro). 

How very cool that the album closes with Nyro’s upbeat number, a bright ray of hope.

Show time for Jeanne O’Connor Friday at Caffe Lena (47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs) is 8 p.m., doors 7:30. Admission $27.11 members, $30.37 general, $15.18 children and students. 518-583-0022 www.caffelena.org

Later, Jeanne O’Connor sings all over the place, usually in duos with pianists:

July 31 at The Olde Bryan Inn in Saratoga Springs

Aug. 23 at The Roosevelt Room in Troy

Sept. 17 at the Van Dyck Music Club in Schenectady

Oct. 18 and Dec. 20 at the Market Bar in Saratoga Springs

A Cool Voice on a Hot Day; Jazz on Jazz Likely to Move Indoors Thursday

Shiri Zorn trusts her voice so completely that she sings with only minimal accompaniment.

Thursday at Jazz on Jay, she sings with guitarist Chad McLoughlin and percussionist Brian Melick, the same trio format as on her albums “Into Another Land” (2022) and “Looking for the Light” (2025).

“Shiri is my favorite kind of singer (and human, for that matter)—open-minded, creative, and honest,” singer Tierney Sutton told Downbeat. “Zorn’s voice is cool, calm and cerebral, her tone pure,” wrote the magazine’s Allen Morrison. “She articulates lyrics with perfect diction and scalpel-like precision.” 

Shiri Zorn. Photo provided

Zorn studied classical piano before singer Cleo Laine’s intimate style and freedom inspired her to sing, at 14. 

“I grew up listening to Carole King, the Beatles, Leonard Cohen as well as classical music,” said Zorn. She also noted the jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, and Middle Eastern music, as important influences. After studying voice and piano at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she studied vocal technique with Greta Matassa in Seattle, then Tierney Sutton, who produced the vocal tracks on Zorn’s debut album.

Zorn didn’t grow up performing in bands, instead honing her solo technique with key mentors. “My first real band was with George Muscatello,” the ingenious Albany jazz guitarist and longtime Skidmore faculty member. 

In her current trio, she replicates the dynamic style of her earlier trio with Muscatello. “We will be playing only standards,” said Zorn of Thursday’s show. “I always try to find a new way to introduce music that has essentially been written around 100 years ago and ask myself how I can make it relevant to me, my life experience and my work.”

She’ll apply this inventive approach to standards including “The Nearness of You,” “Alone Together,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “How Insensitive.”

This worked well last August when she helped percussionist Brian Melick, who is playing in her trio Thursday, to open for Edmar Castaneda at Proctors in a Music Haven presentation. I reported that she sang sweet but bluesy and hailed her remarkable voice and how her expressive hands add to its effect.

Jazz on Jay continues next Thursday, July 9 with Keith Pray.

Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District. 

Sponsors are the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation and The Schenectady Foundation. We also receive support from Schenectady City Hall and this website. 

Show time is 12 noon at Jay Square opposite City Hall. Weather site: Robb Alley at Proctors, where seating is provided.