Review: Ali Ryerson Quartet at A Place for Jazz; Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
Proclaiming “theft is a tradition in jazz,” flutist Ali Ryerson led her Quartet in musical recycling Friday at A Place for Jazz.
Playing “mash-ups,” as she called them, of standards alongside her originals, she charmed fellow musicians and fans young and old.
Ali Ryerson Quartet, from left: Larry Ham, piano; Lou Pappas, bass; Ryerson, flute and alto flute; Tom Melito, drums
A tilted bebop fanfare settled into a groove with solos by Ryerson and bassist Lou Pappas before a complex coda that echoed the opening. Ryerson explained she’d grafted her own “Chuck’s Tune” in answer to Wayne’s “Solar,” the Miles Davis favorite she’d used to set up her own.
She applied the same mutation to Steve Swallow’s “Falling Grace,” taking it further outside as “Flying in Space.”
These felt seamless, launching imaginative explorations from familiar platforms. Her original “Cold Snap” swung in similar graceful ways to the earlier standards-with-extras, but with more scramble, and featured high-flying solos from Ryerson’s flute, Larry Ham’s fleet piano and Pappas’s bass. Tight from the first, they sounded especially muscular and crisp in the B-section here, riding on Tom Molito’s tasty/propulsive drumming.
A gracious guest, Ryerson touted students of the SUNY Schenectady Community College music school that hosts A Place for Jazz and presented her afternoon master class there. A busy teacher herself, she calls her students “Ali Cats” and publishes instruction books.
Resuming with the Sammy Fain Disney theme “Alice in Wonderland,” she rebranded it as “Through the Looking Glass,” a cheerful, swinging waltz with a fast, complex Ham piano exploration and Pappas bowing his bass serenely in the coda.
Ali Ryerson, above; Larry Ham, below
Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays” became “Before Today” in Ryerson’s hands. A syncopated bebop romp eased into a more gently swinging flow that livened up again in riff-swapping as Melito’s drums erupted into peppy dialog with everybody in turn – highlight of the first set. A spirited Brazilian-flavored dialog of Ryerson’s alto flute with Ham’s piano on a steady bed of bass and drums showed why Brazil is on her bucket list in a serene bossa. Her “Ali Cat Blues” used stop-and-go transitions and busy extended riff swapping before intermission.
Opening the second set, “Stella by Starlight” felt faithful to its original swing feel before she eased into Brazilian bossa mellowness in Paul Desmond’s “Samba Cantina.” After citing her family jazz pedigree, stretching back to the big-band era with her guitarist father Art, Ryerson revved her band with Thad Jones’s “3 in 1.” In this engaging bop-swing number, Pappas and Ham were strong as her alto flute.
Lou Pappas, above; Tom Melito, below
She paired vintage love songs, letting the band run fast and far in “What Is This Thing Called Love” before tapping her head to signal the recap; fine, fine work from Ham here, taffy-pulling the tempo, turning the chords inside out.
However, the second set peaked with Horace Silver’s serene ballad “Peace,” Ham’s meditative Bill Evans’y piano inviting everybody in. Ham returned in a tasty trio section while Ryerson’s solo near the end soared every bit as high. Just plain wonderful.
She lightened the mood promising “one more tune, and an encore – I take no chances” – before her jaunty original “Boppin’ Love,” pulsating to a breathless hard stop after a happy clatter of drums.
Thanking everyone for asking for an encore, but without leaving the stage, Ryerson took us back to Brazil with “Fe” (Faith), uncorking an energetic up-the-scale run of jaw-dropping speed and melodic force.
Ryerson seemed mostly to play within herself, sometimes sight-reading prepared solos for precision. The music breathed a bit better whenever anybody went “off-book,” as actors say. Early on, she said with warm gratitude, “At 74 years old, I feel I’ve found my band.” They seemed a happy crew of easy smiles and clear cues, sometimes toying with each other as they tossed the lead back and forth.
She shared that comfort, that cohesion, with the band, the audience and the songs.
Ryerson’s concert Friday closed the 26th season of A Place for Jazz; the nonprofit, all-volunteer presenter goes dark until April 4 when its spring fundraiser, early in Jazz Appreciation Month, honors its late president Tim Coakley. A Place for Jazz also publishes a jazz calendar at http://www.aplaceforjazz.org.
This season’s shows were in memory of Coakley and underwritten by Joel Blumenthal and John and Donna Moroney.
Gallery
When I sent this photo to brother Jim Hoke who plays flute and everything else and asked him to sort them for me, he wrote back, “Looks like a curved alto and a C (regular) flute. My alto is straight; most are. All basses are curved like this one.”
Esquire magazine hailed Jim’s flute solo on a Kacey Musgrave album. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a37502547/kacey-musgraves-flute-solo-star-crossed/
Ryerson’s Boots – posted in honor of the late great Greg Haymes who often posted footwear pix on the original Nippertown.
