Preview: Alex Slomka & Friends at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026

Trombonist Alex Slomka reunites Thursday with bandmates from pre-COVID Albany shows. 

Alex Slomka

“We often played at the Speakeasy 518 in Albany years ago,” he says, listing bandmates bassist Lou Smaldone, guitarist Shaun McCarthy and drummer Eric Binder. (Now sadly closed, the Speakeasy 518 was a basement bistro near the original Grinch and City Beer Hall, with a cozy, clandestine vibe where cellphones were banned and cool jazz reigned.)

Slomka came to jazz from a music-loving family; his father a stalwart supporter and volunteer with A Place for Jazz, his mother a longtime pianist. “My older sister took piano lessons when she was growing up…to do anything cool that she was doing, I also wanted to take piano lessons until I learned that practicing was involved.”

Practicing became a way of life for Slomka, studying with Mark Hartman and Bret Zvacek at the Crane School of Music and with John Mosca, Tim Albright and David Dejesus at SUNY Purchase Conservatory. 

Before studying jazz at those schools, “Growing up in the capital region, I learned so much from locals,” Slomka recalls, naming Mike Meidenbauer, Phil Pandori, Keith Pray and Brian Patneaude. His early love for the Beatles turned into an infatuation with punk rock and ska, playing the latter with the Late Night Show; then came an avid interest in jazz.

Locally, he’s played with Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble (Smaldone is a longtime member), the Dylan Perrillo Orchestra, the Joey Thomas Big Band, Professor Louie and the Cromatix/Woodstock Horns, and The Big Takeover. Living and teaching now near New York City, he often plays there in big bands.

Thursday, he’ll mix originals with standards. In jazz classics, “I usually get inspired by hearing it and then I think ‘I can probably play on that tune,’” he says; joking, humble. ”Typically this is followed by realizing the song I’ve chosen is too hard for me and then I hide for some time until I summon the courage again.” 

He’ll choose originals from his EP “A Box of Socks” and newer, unrecorded compositions.

The Alex Slomka Trio at the Van Dyck in July, from left: Wyatt Ambrose, guitar; Slomka, trombone; Lou Smaldone, bass

At the Van Dyck in July, he and his trio with Smaldone and guitarist Wyatt Ambrose played “September In the Rain;” “If I Had You;” “Yellow Moon;” “Let’s Stay Together;” “From out of Nowhere;” “Bachnawa;” “Lil’ Darlin’;” “Never Been in Love” – then, in the second set – “After Supper;” “Mammatus;” “Without a Song;” “A Message to You Rudy;” “Day In, Day Out;” “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and “After You’ve Gone.”

As reported here, “A fellow trombonist at our table noted there’s nowhere to hide when playing trombone. Sound, intonation and phrasing must all be precise; and Alex’s were. He also proved to be a confidently amusing host with plenty of schtick. He encouraged generosity at the tip jar by lamenting heavy World Cup bets on Ireland, but he was all simple sincerity paying tribute to the late, great Tim Coakley – a Gazette work colleague of his dad – with the deeply felt ballad “Li’l Darlin’” late in the first set.

Unconventional with no drums, piano or second horn, Slomka’s trio applied a theme and variations approach to a mid-tempo romp through “September In The Rain” to open, varying the order and length of solos some from tune to tune. They usually launched from a unified melody statement, Slomka taking the lead; then, usually, Ambrose took the second solo, alternating chords and single-note runs with the always smooth Smaldone accompanying, steady and unobtrusive. They’d swap roles then, Smaldone leading, Ambrose comping. Then Slomka would bop to the top, sum up or simmer down.

This Jazz on Jay season closes Thursday, Aug. 27 with the Hot Club of Saratoga, 2025 Eddies Jazz Artist of the Year Award winner.

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. Jazz on Jay also receives support from Schenectady City Hall and this site, Hoke’s Juke Box. 

Show time is 12 noon at Jay Square opposite City Hall. Rain site: Robb Alley at Proctors; seating is provided indoors.