Preview: Free Festival Samples Area Jazz Artists

Eight area jazz crews perform Sunday in the 2nd Galway Jazz Festival, presented free by Capital District Jazz Ltd.

The Cock ‘N’ Bull outdoor performance area; roofed artists’ shed in the background. Photo provided

From 11:30 a.m. to likely past 9 p.m., the festival presents these local and regional jazz artists:

11:30 a.m.: The Vinnie Marotta Trio

12:15 p.m.: Michael Benedict and Bopitude

1:30 p.m.: Tarik Shah Quartet

2:45 p.m.: Out of the Box

4 p.m.: The Jeannine Ouderkirk Quartet

5:15 p.m.: Keith Pray’s Listen!

6:30 p.m.: Hot Club of Saratoga

8 p.m.: Brass Machine

The Cock ’N’ Bull Facebook page explains the event this way.

Rain or shine (indoors if inclement weather). A very family friendly venue and event so come one, come all! This event is made possible through donations, if you’d like to make a tax deductible donation visit www.cdjazz.org

PLEASE CALL AHEAD TO HELP THE VENUE PREPARE 518-882-6962

Feel free to bring lawn chairs and make a day of it, but no outside food or drinks are allowed. They will however be available for purchase throughout the day.

Partial view of Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble, shown here playing indoors. Photo provided

The Cock ’N’ Bull (5342 Parkis Mills Rd., Galway) has long presented music in its converted barn dining and music room. It continued presenting music during COVID by adding an outdoor performance space whose roofed area accommodates even Keith Pray’s (17-piece) Big Soul Ensemble in its last-Tuesday-of-the-month residency.

A highly efficient sampler presenting selected artists from the area jazz scene, this festival – like most multi-act productions – offers the opportunity for tasty surprises. Find an act you hadn’t previously heard, fall in love, and go catch them elsewhere, down the road.

Photo provided

Preview: Keith Pray’s Ortet plays Jazz on Jay, Thursday, July 9, 2026

Keith Pray leads his Ortet organ trio today with guitarist Michael Novakowski and drummer Chad Ploss on a musical path he began exploring after seeing organist Dr. Lonnie Liston Smith in New York. Pray recalled, “His music was hypnotic, funky as could be and profoundly creative…The (organ) is like a full orchestra: It can whisper, roar and everything in between.”

Since moving here from New York and becoming a leading voice on saxophone, “The organ has proved to be a muse,” said Pray, “providing many new compositions.” In addition to his own sax-powered bands, large and small, plus guest spots, he built an organ trio about eight years ago. This sparse but powerful format features drums, guitar and the organ playing both melody and bass lines.

Keith Pray. Photo provided

Pray first bought an organ hoping to persuade keyboardists in his bands to play it. Exploring it himself, starting in late 2016, he played his first live organ gig four months later. He recorded an organ trio album in August 2021: “Down the Middle,” his sixth (of 12) as a leader. 

Today, Ortet will play “what I feel fits the moment, likely some Jimmy Smith, some originals, maybe some James Brown and/or Beatles.” Pray said In general, the Ortet plays “soul jazz in the style of the classic organ trios of the 60’s &70’s.”

Playing these standards, “I always try to play them differently; some days more extreme than others,” he explained, noting there’s lots of room to improvise.

Pray has taught saxophone at SUNY Oneonta and jazz history and arranging at SUNY Schenectady County Community College. He directs Schenectady City School District’s high school bands and the SUNY Albany Jazz Ensemble. His master classes and clinics include the Proctors Summer Jazz Institute for nine seasons and co-founding All Ears Jazz to develop jazz education workshops.

Both Pray and drummer Chad Ploss trained at the Crane School of Music. Inspired by Motown, heavy metal, the Roots and area percussionist Andy Hearn, Ploss also plays with Raisinhead, in Family Tree jams and other groups.

Guitarist Mike Novakowski also plays in several bands including the trio Katalyst and the Teresa Broadwell Band. 

Pray performs through the summer with his trio, quartet, Big Soul Ensemble and the Ortet; he also guests with Bobby Previte’s Quartet A and the Upstate Composers Orchestra. He’ll play the free admission Galway Jazz Festival at the Cock ’N’ Bull on July 12 with his new band Listen! 

“This group plays my compositions that are written more like ‘normal’ jazz tunes (than free jazz),” said Pray. “But (they) can be more fluid in form, forcing us to listen to each other more intently and hopefully helping to keep things from going as expected.”

Jazz on Jay continues July 16 with the Ragtime Windjammers.

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