Veteran Saxophonist Plays Sunday at 48th Saratoga Jazz Festival Presented by GE Vernova

Saxophonist Gary Bartz was 36 when SPAC presented its first jazz festival; he’d just released “Music Is My Sanctuary,” his 13th album in 10 years. His 31st as a leader hits next month.

“Before AND after,” he laughed when asked if he’d practiced his horns before our phone interview last week, or would do so afterward.

“Before AND after,” he stressed, as hard-working at 84 as when he came up with the Big M’s of jazz, mentors and band-mates Max Roach, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner. Bartz played SPAC’s jazz festival in Tyner’s band years ago, and plays Sunday leading his own.

Bartz recalled a star-studded history over the phone from home in Oakland, musing on the physics and mysticism of music.

Gary Bartz, at right, plays alto saxophone with McCoy Tyner, left, at piano. Photo supplied

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody this, but I dreamt I had played with Miles before I had ever played with him,” Bartz said. “So, when I started playing with him, it was like I had already played with him so I wasn’t in awe, like most guys were.”

Bartz said, “I started studying when I started listening. The greatest study of all Is listening, even more than playing your instrument, because you can do that 24 hours of the day.” He said, “You can dream music even if you can’t play it, but you can dream you’re playing it. When you get to play a song, when you get to the horn, you’ve already done it.”

CHARLIE PARKER DREAMS

His jazz dreams began at Sunday dinner in his grandmother’s Baltimore home, where his uncle Leon “Sharp” Bartz also lived – “Sharp” because he brought back from New York visits both sharp clothes and records unavailable in Baltimore. 

“One of those Sundays, I put on a Charlie Parker record and that was it – and it still is,” said Bartz.”I didn’t know it was a saxophone, I didn’t know if it was a man or a woman, I didn’t know what it was. It was just the most beautiful thing I had every heard and I made up my mind right then: That’s what I want to do.” 

He was six years old.

Lessons with a Mr. Holloway downtown taught him to read music, play pop songs and transcribe records by Charlie Parker, Tiny Bradshaw and Louis Jourdan. “Those were the best teachers because you can’t really teach this music,” Bartz said. “The only way to learn this music is to do it.”

Bartz left Baltimore after high school for Juilliard whose Eurocentric curriculum “made me understand the universality of music,” said Bartz.

He said, “Music is nothing but sound, put in a pleasing manner that people like; it sounds good.” He said, “How you do it, that’s up to the individuals. You can do it like Sly Stone, you can do it like Stravinsky.”

When Bartz met trombonist Grachan Moncur III and drummer Andrew Cyrille at Juilliard, “Becoming friends with them, I found out about the jam sessions and started meeting musicians and learning New York.”

SOUNDING LIKE HIMSELF

“As young musicians, when we were coming up, our main thing was to sound like ourselves,” he said. “We wanted people to hear us and immediately to say, ‘Well, that’s so and so.’ You hear a note or two of Miles Davis and you know that’s Miles. You hear Bird or Dizzy or Bud Powell and you know them, within a few notes. That’s what we were looking for.”

“He was my idol,” said Bartz of Wayne Shorter, recalling how trumpeter Lee Morgan introduced them when Bartz sat in a Morgan gig featuring Shorter. “Wayne took a break on ‘A Night In Tunisia’ and it changed my life. Just that one break…It made my eyes pop with the melodies. Whenever I think of Wayne, I think of possibilities.”

Bartz learned fast in his first bands; Max Roach, then Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Abbey Lincoln was singing with Roach then; years later, Bartz often worked with singers, notably Andy Bey. Bartz’s evolving style includes bebop note cascades, sensitive ballads and close accompaniment for singers and fellow players.

Bartz said. “It was easier when I started playing with McCoy and Miles and other people because I had already been taught the proper way by Max and Art. I was very lucky, that was a golden age.”

Max and Miles inspired Bartz as bandleader. “They were similar in the way that they treated their band members, like family,” he said. “It was always comfortable.”

Thelonious Monk strongly influenced Bartz as composer. Bartz wrote “Uncle Bubba” on McCoy Tyner’s “Dimensions” album to honor Monk and Sonny Rollins. “I loved the way Monk and Sonny played together,” he said. Monk’s nieces and nephews called him Uncle Bubba, as did Lester Young’s, as Bartz learned later. “To me, the name Uncle Bubba was universal because I’m sure many families had an Uncle Bubba.”

SPIRIT IN SOUND

Bartz has called Malcolm X and John Coltrane Buddha figures for “the way they made me feel, that I was in the presence of a spiritual being.” Bartz sees music as spiritual, mystical. “The Sufis believe that the big bang happened because of a note,” he said. “Like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan could sing a note and make a glass shatter; that’s how powerful sound is.”

Bartz learned how powerfully unifying music can be alongside Miles. “Playing the Isle of Wight in 1970 (with Miles’s Bitches Brew band), there were over 600,000 people, and I saw how music unites.” 

To build that unity, Bartz emphasizes deep knowledge through shared focus. 

TOTAL FOCUS

“I need a band that can hear and that knows the music so they don’t have to turn the pages and look at (sheet) music,” said Bartz. “If you are reading something and trying to listen, part of your brain is on the paper, the other part is in the melody. This music needs total focus, and it has to be your full attention.”

Over 30 albums as leader and 100 as sideman, Bartz has used that focus to build unity while maintaining his independence. “I appreciate the fact that I was able to record what I wanted to record,” he said. “Wait until they hear the new record! I think they’re gonna be shocked!” 

Called “Damage Control,” it’s due next month; recorded in Los Angeles with many musician friends. “Maybe people won’t be so shocked,” he mused, reconsidering. 

“They know I might do anything.”

Gary Bartz. Photo supplied

Bartz plays Sunday at 4:10 p.m. at the Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage with Kassa Overall, drums; Paul Bollenback, guitar, and Reuben Rogers, bass.

Information and tickets: http://www.spac.org.

Preview – Jeff Siegel Quartet at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 26, 2025

Making music with modern masters, plus conservatory training, taught tradition to the all-star members of the straight-ahead style Jeff Siegel Quartet. With big-name credits as players, they all also boast ambitions and achievements as composers.

“Likely ninety percent of the songs (they’ll play Thursday) will be originals, versus standards,” says Siegel, the well-traveled drummer, composer and teacher. His quartet features pianist Francesca Tanksley, trumpeter Chris Pasin and bassist Rich Syracuse, his longtime bandmate in Lee Shaw’s trio.

Jeff Siegel. Photo, and fan-dog, supplied

Siegel has toured Europe 30 times as leader or co-leader, plus shows and festivals in Africa and South America; the latest with the Levin Brothers right after their Caffe Lena show. He has also worked with Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Benny Golson, Sheila Jordan, Helen Merrill, Mose Allison, John Medeski, Arthur Rhames, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Kurt Elling, Ravi Coltrane, Ryan Kisor, Hal Galper, Dena DeRose and other straight-ahead players, plus avant garde explorers Wadada Leo Smith and Baikida Carroll. 

With a Masters in jazz from Queens College, Siegel teaches at SUNY New Paltz, Western Connecticut State University, Vassar and the New School. His albums showcase original compositions including “King of Xhosa” (2017) with South African trumpeter Feya Faku (sadly, recently deceased), “London Live” (2018), “When You Were There” (2019) and “Brazilian Conversations” with the Levin Brothers and Emilio Martins (2025).

Pianist Francesca Tanksley was born in Italy, grew up in Germany and trained at Berklee. In New York she played with Melba Liston, then in Billy Harper’s quintet; and has also worked with Clifford Jordan, Cecil Payne, Bill Hardman and Erica Lindsay. She leads her own quintet, co-leads the Erica Lindsay/Howard Johnson Quintet and teaches at Berklee and Bard College. Her debut album “Journey” hit in 2002.

After training at the New England Conservatory, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Chris Pasin played in Buddy Rich’s big band, accompanying singers Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan and others. His albums “Detour Ahead” (2009) and “Random Acts of Kindness” (2015) showcase originals while “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (2017) reinvents Christmas music and “Ornettiquette” (2018) celebrates Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and Don Cherry. 

Siegel’s longtime bandmate with Lee Shaw, bassist Rich Syracuse played Jazz on Jay last Thursday with Steve Horowitz and has played for ballet and opera companies in addition to jazz giants Nick Brignola, Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, the Brubeck Brothers, both Brecker brothers, Jimmy Cobb, Bernard Purdy, Eddie Henderson, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Warren Bernhardt, John Medeski and many more. He teaches at Skidmore, Bard, SUNY New Paltz and the Hotchkiss School.

They all also value spontaneity and freshness. “Each time we perform a piece, whether a standard or original, should involve solos and interplay and even melodic interpretation that is different,” says Siegel. “All of our concepts of studying music come into focus no matter what music we are playing.”

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., Schenectady. 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 always gangs up on the calendar around SPAC’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29.

Stay tuned for festival info with a Gary Bartz interview.

We’ve talked about Mark Kleinhaut’s new In This Moment trio debuting at Spring Street Gallery on Wednesday. Lots more follows.

Thursday is a coin-toss: the Royal Bopsters sing at Caffe Lena (47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs), while Joe Barna adds four-time Grammy winning saxophonist Ralph LaLama to his band at the Van Dyck (237 Union St. Schenectady).

The Royal Bopsters; Jeanne O’Connor second from left. Photo supplied

Area singer Jeanne O’Connor is the familiar face and voice in the New York-based Royal Bopsters, which she calls “a bebop vocal quartet.” The New Yorker hails them as “expert practitioners of vocalese,” the jazz art of adding lyrics to instrumentals, as practiced by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and Manhattan Transfer.

O’Connor has previously played Caffe Lena with her New Standard band and a trio with Peg Delaney and Pete Toigo.

The Royal Bopsters – O’Connor, Amy London, Tomas Cruz and Dylan Pramuk – will sing with pianist Will Gorman, bassist Dean Johnson and local hero drummer Bob Halek. They’ll likely sing “But Not For Me,” Freddy Hubbard’s “Red Clay,” Tadd Dameron’s “Our Delight” and “On a Misty Night,” Tito Puente’s “Cuando Te Vea” and some originals. ”I will probably sing a new version of ‘The Sweetest Sounds,’ co-arranged by Peg Delaney and John DiMartino – part of a new solo CD I am working on,” says O’Connor. The Royal Bopsters followed their self-named debut album (2015) with “Party of Four” (2020).

The Royal Bopsters perform as part of the Caffe’s Peak Jazz series. 7 p.m. $34.72 general, $30.37 members, $17.35 children and students. 518-583-0022 www.caffelena.org

Joe Barna, performing last summer Jazz on Jay

Also Thursday, area drummer, composer, bandleader and jazz catalyst Joe Barna welcomes guest tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama to the Van Dyck, joining Barna,  keyboardist John Esposito and bassist Jason Emmond. Since training at SUNY Schenectady and SUNY Purchase, Barna has become one of the busiest and most valued jazz heroes hereabouts, leading or contributing to several bands and presenting shows in new venues.

Ralph Lalama. Photo supplied

Lalama came up through the Woody Herman, Buddy Rich and Mel Lewis big bands but most often plays in smaller groups such as Barna’s. He’s led or guested on a dozen albums since 1985, earning four Grammys along the way. “Staycation” (2022), perfect title for a COVID-time album, is his latest. Small plates in the upstairs music room; full dinners downstairs. 7 p.m. show, doors 6:30. $20 advance, $25 door. 518-630-5173. www.stellapastabar.com

WAMC jazz DJ and A Place for Jazz maestro Bill McCann hosts this show, a presentation of the NPR station’s new WAMC On the Road series of remotes.

COZY JAZZ FESTIVAL ENCORES AT SKIDMORE

As part of its annual summer Jazz Institute, Skidmore presents two groups next week after each played SPAC’s Saratoga Jazz Festival. Both shows are free; both start at 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, July 1, the all-women Artemis quintet plays the Zankel, and on Thursday, July 3, the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars returns to campus to play there. 

Artemis at A Place for Jazz last fall; Renee Rosnes at left

Next Tuesday’s show marks the third by Artemis since they played A Place for Jazz last fall. Pianist, composer and leader Renee Rosnes leads Ingrid Jensen, trumpet; Nicole Glover, saxophone; Noriko Ueda, bass; and Allison Miller, drums.

Skidmore Jazz institute Faculty All-Stars at Saratoga Jazz Festival 2024

On Thursday, the Zankel presents the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars: bassist, leader and dry-as-the-Sahara host Todd Colman; Jimmy Greene, saxophone; Clay Jenkins, trumpet; Steve Davis, trombone; Dave Stryker, guitar; Bill Cunliffe, piano; and Dennis Mackrel, drums.

NEARBY…

Keyboardist/composer/everything man Jon Batiste plays Saturday at Tanglewood, coincidentally the first day of the Saratoga Jazz Festival. Always brilliant, Batiste is sometimes jazz, as when he played in Cassandra Wilson’s band at The Egg, his area debut. A graduate of Skidmore’s Jazz Institute, he bravely filled in for the irreplaceable Sharon Jones, fronting the Dap Kings to close SPAC’s 2018 Jazz Festival.

PREVIEW: New, Improvising Jazz Trio Creates on the Fly

Jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut introduces his new trio, In This Moment, Wednesday, June 25 at the Spring Street Gallery.

Kleinhaut played the cozy Gallery regularly before COVID, then turned to online performing, mostly solo. His videos showcase a tasteful amplified-acoustic guitar sound whose warm charm feels invitingly comfortable even when he ventures off the map of conventional song forms. Building a new band with longtime cellist Ed Green and new singer Shiri Zorn, the guitarist-composer-leader expands that elegance-with-freedom approach.

The trio seems his natural habitat and most frequent context on more than half of his dozen or so albums.

Shiri Zorn often sings without words. Her low-pressure restraint leaves room to add regional influences onto either standards or free improvisations. On her two albums – fellow singer Tierney Sutton produced her debut “Into Another Land” and “Looking for the Light” just arrived – and you’ll hear Middle Eastern minor key explorations or spry bossa bounce. Even without words, you can hear her meaning.

Green first trained on trombone before moving to bass, then cello; so he plays more emphatic rhythms than most string players, plus horn-players’ breath-shaped phrasing. He played in (fellow trombonist) Kai Winding’s Septet and local hero Lee Shaw, plus jazz and pop stars including Nancy Wilson, Charlie Byrd, the Temptations, Tom Jones, Paul Anka and many more.

Longtime bandmates, Kleinhaut and Green smoothly leave space for one another and support each other’s solos. Kleinhaut comps chords behind Green’s pizzicato runs and Green plucks or bows chords behind Kleinhaut. Zorn has learned this language and fits and flows fluently with the guys.

Show time for In This Moment is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 at Spring St. Gallery (110 Spring St., Saratoga Springs). 20 in advance, $25 at the door eventbrite.com

Review: Steve Horowitz Quartet at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 19, 2025

Brevity may be the soul of wit, as the saying goes. To trot out another tired truism/cliche; in jazz brevity may seem honored more in the breach than the observance. In other words, it can feel scarce when players stretch, jam and explore.

Not Thursday at Jazz on Jay before likely the largest-ever indoor show in the series. Onstage at  the bad-weather site in Proctors Robb Alley, the Steve Horowitz Quartet mostly kept things concise, cool and calm; swinging at medium tempos. They earned the title “I’m Old Fashioned,” one of 11 antique standards they dusted off with unfailing elegant understatement.

The Steve Horowitz Quartet, from left: Cliff Brucker, drums; Rich Syracuse (behind mic stand)’ Steve Horowitz, trumpet; and Larry Ham, piano

Noting he seldom leads a gig or session, Horowitz introduced his sidemen as the veteran players and old friends they clearly are: Larry Ham, piano; Rich Syracuse, electric upright bass; and Cliff Brucker, drums.

“Road Song” set the upbeat mood; this road had the occasional yellow-light of a stop and go groove, but they avoided the fast lane as everybody soloed in turn: trumpet, piano, bass and drums, clocking in at seven minutes; “Sweet Pumpkin,” another easy swinger, ran eight, even with Horowitz cueing Ham to stretch his solo, enjoying the groove.

Everybody played within themselves, never going far outside or pushing too hard. The vibe was cooperative, respecting the tunes and composers; but it didn’t lack for personality as their phrasing supplied. Horowitz chose some tunes for their association with other trumpeters: “Sweet Pumpkin” with Blue Mitchell, “Up Jumped Spring” with Freddie Hubbard, “Uno Mas” with Kenny Dorham. However, “I Told You So” paid tribute to Dexter Gordon, they grabbed “Triste” from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s deep songbook, and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from “My Fair Lady.” This one was loverly; a delicious ballad in the quartet’s confident hands.

They hit their highest altitude in a rousing trio romp through “It’s You Or No One,” their fastest riffs – Horowitz’s rapid scalar trumpet runs – in “Triste.” He switched to flugelhorn in the middle of “Up Jumped Spring,” luxuriating in its mellow sound through about half the 90-minute set.  

Every tune clocked in at under 10 minutes, and this economy worked well for them. Inventive players, their solos had their say then yielded to the next cat. Ham really shone in “I’m Old Fashioned,” Syracuse owned “It Could Happen to You” and “One Mint Julep” while Brucker brought the power in swapping fours at the codas of many tunes and made the most of his solo breaks, especially “Triste” where he stirred a happy uproar.

The rhythm section played “It’s You Or No One” as a trio, spry and strong.

Always tasteful, coloring inside the lines, Horowitz enjoyed his players as much as anybody but took a back seat to nobody; an elegant soloist of swinging clarity.

Fans filed into Robb Alley in such numbers that the crews scrambled to set up more chairs. Some had gone originally to Jay Square, the Jazz on Jay outdoor venue. and arrived relieved to escape the heat. Singers Kaitlyn Koch and Jody Shayne sat side by side among the many musicians who especially enjoyed classic tunes without frills.

Setlist

Road Song

Sweet Pumpkin

Up Jumped Spring

Wouldn’t It Be Loverly

I Told You So

It’s You or No One

I’m Old Fashioned

Triste

It Could Happen To You

Uno Mas

One Mint Julep

MORE JAZZ? COMING RIGHT UP

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Michael Benedict leads his straight-ahead Boptitude quintet at the Van Dyck (237 Union St., Schenectady). It’s no. 008 in the Van Dyck’s Thirdsday Nite series; third Thursday of each month. Tonight, it’s Benedict, drums; with David Gleason, piano; Mike Lawrence, bass; Chris Pasin, trumpet; and Brian Patneaude, saxophone. 7:30 p.m. $20 at the door. 

Jazz on Jay continues next Thursday, June 26 at noon with the Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet, co-starring bassist Rich Syracuse. They were bandmates for decades behind pianist Lee Shaw. 

And, as Horowitz announced, the BWC Jazz Orchestra, which Brucker co-leads with trumpeters Steve Weisse and Dylan Canterbury, plays the Caroga Lake festival July 19.

Review: Todd Nelson’s JazzAmericana at Jazz on Jay, Thursday, June 12, 2025

Everybody knows “Wichita Lineman,” but Jimmy Webb’s melancholy road song went all fresh in Todd Nelson’s hands Thursday. 

We all knew what it was, but it was new. 

JazzAmericana – From left: Todd Nelson, guitar; Justin Tracy, drums; Kyle Esposito, fretless electric bass

The longtime Albany guitarist and one-time rock star with Silver Chicken, the Units/Fear of Strangers and other past-decades crews, started it slow and meditative. Soon his imagination brought a new vision into focus. Adding complexity in chords and melody to the familiar tune, he added new twists and turns, plus effects from the pedals at his feet. All original, and all lovely.

Todd Nelson

Apart from “Lineman” and Dave Holland’s complex, episodic “The Backwoods Song,” JazzAmericana played Nelson originals (see setlist), reinventing each after initial melodic statements; though some of those flowed wild and oblique. Nelson’s inventions augmented without wandering too far outside; his clarity of tone and thought those of a thinking fans’ guitar hero. 

The 90-minute set, standard at Jazz on Jay, mused thoughtfully from the vintage opener “Blacksmith,” then the similarly serene and more recent “Peregrine.” Both set a structure followed thereafter: Nelson led a trio intro, then soloed, then handed off to bassist Kyle Esposito whose contributions often sped things up or held the tempo but went more dense. Justin Tracy’s drums held the pulse, mostly, but also pushed and pulled some. Nelson usually brought things home in his second break.

Kyle Esposito

His ringing, chiming chords launched “Paper Machete” in circular motion, then went deep before coming back up in bluesy runs. Esposito made a bold grab, playing up high and fast, before Nelson held the mood with sustained echoing licks resolved in a melodic cascade.

Next, Esposito launched “Springland” with a bassline borrowed from the Allman Brothers’ anthemic “Whipping Post” before Nelson steered the whole thing into a sunny reggae waltz. They used a similar detour surprise in Holland’s “Backwoods Song,” the main melody emerging from repeating riffs that built momentum in one direction before taking another.

The slower, sweeter “Sophist Intrigue” (name of the band Nelson led at 11) pumped some Allmans spice in agile repetitions that broke out into hard-driving variations. Nelson acknowledged Tracy’s drumming afterwards; he was right.

Justin Tracy

They held this upbeat energy into “Space Jelly,” using repetition again to build momentum before they pumped the brakes with a hard stop. Then a mood and tempo change in “Dream Alibis” showed how well Nelson’s clarity fits ballads, with single (and sometimes bent) notes etching a pleasing melody. Esposito played in that same eloquent simplicity, high up in a short break before Nelson recapped with a shimmering delicacy. 

Similar title but way different mood: “Dog Dreams” bounced all playful in energetic riff variations – before Nelson downshifted at the bridge into a more meditative mood; Esposito and Tracy perfectly matching the flow.

Then “Wichita Lineman,” Nelson’s discrete wah-wah and reverb taking its elegant pop purity into new directions. “In Stride” had the momentum its title suggests, but surprised as much as “Lineman” – as if twang master Duane Eddy (RIP) roamed around a shuffle until it carried him into higher registers, with discrete but effective echo.

In “Dune Buggy,” melodic playfulness set up repeating riffs, and Tracy got the only solo of the set, in its last song. Here, Nelson played further outside than usual, strumming behind the bridge in staccato treble scratches, ganging up on the tune with pedal effects.

Handing Off – Todd Nelson, center, hands off the solo spot to Kyle Esposito, right; as Justin Tracy, left, holds down the beat.

Although Nelson only formed JazzAmericana in January, he’d played with both Esposito and Tracy in previous bands, so the trio has already reached a fine-tuned, telepathic closeness that was serious fun to hear.

The weather behaved, mostly – though wind blew the sign on nearby Tara Kitchen so it swung as hard as the band.

SETLiST

Blacksmith

Peregrine

Paper Machete

Springland

The Backwoods Song

Sophist Intrigue

Space Jelly

Dream Alibis

Dog Dreams

Wichita Lineman

In Stride

Dune Buggy 

Jazz on Jay continues Thursday, June 19 with the Steve Horowitz Quartet. Even sooner, crews half a block away were busy as Nelson, Esposito and Tracy wrapped up, erecting a stage where Da Schmooze would play at five p.m., another free show.

A fan, center, wears Fear of Strangers T-Shirt

Preview: Todd Nelson’s JazzAmericana, Thursday, June 12, 2025

Guitarist Todd Nelson ignores music’s genre “border patrol.” His first teachers were a folksinger and a classical virtuoso, and his high school band ambitiously tackled the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s intense jazz fusion “Dance of Maya.”

Todd Nelson

“Instrumental jazz and improvised music, that’s what I’ve been doing since 2011,” says the son of musical parents. His father sang gospel and played piano, also trombone in a brass quintet whose trumpeter played in the Philadelphia Orchestra. His mother played piano and mandolin.

When a buddy started guitar lessons, so did Nelson. When the friend quit, Nelson kept going; studying and performing while still in elementary school in Rhode Island. “We called ourselves the Incidentals,” he says, recalling his first band. That sounded too much like a barbershop quartet, so they became Sophist Intrigue when their drummer’s sister returned in 1967 from San Francisco with suggestions. “She came up with a name for us and painted my guitar case all psychedelic,” says Nelson. “We had no idea what [Sophist Intrigue] meant, and I still don’t know.” Now, it’s a song title on his “jazzamericana” album, released in March.

JazzAmericana (with added capitals) also names the new (since February) band he leads Thursday. Nelson plays guitar with bassist Kyle Esposito and drummer Justin Tracy. Esposito played with Nelson and drummer Manuel Quintana in NEQ and with Tracy and singer Mark Delgado in Spanish Ghost. London-born Tracy led his own band at European jazz festivals while Esposito also plays with Hudson Valley saxophonist Jay Collins.

Inspired by rockers Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Peter Green initially, Nelson discovered jazz, first as a fan of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Then, as a player, he admired John Scofield – “so original in his sound,” says Nelson; and Kenny Burrell, for “…the simplicity of his playing…no wasted notes, so melodic.”

After high school in Delmar, Nelson cross-enrolled at SUNY Albany (now UAlbany) and (now closed) College of St. Rose to continue guitar training. And he found in Albany’s Lark Street/J.B. Scott’s 1980s scene a do-it-yourself ethos that encouraged creativity, playing with “some really good musicians and singers who could play all kinds of stuff,” he recalls. 

Those “really good musicians and singers” became the Units (later Fear of Strangers). One of Albany’s best and best-known late 70s-early 80s rock bands, they started by playing covers but soon turned to creating original songs. “We were fortunate to start writing at a time when there was a kind of anything-goes ethos about songs…A lot of the stuff we wrote was pretty out there,” notes Nelson. He found, “It was OK to write songs about buildings and food,” he says, citing a Talking Heads album. “It freed us up.”

In JazzAmericana, Nelson takes full advantage of his freedom. He plays mostly originals today, including “Paper Machete,” “Sophist Intrigue,” “The Dogleg of Panhandle,” “Block Party” and “Nevertheless” – tunes from two NEQ albums (“None of the Above,” 2014; and “Nevertheless,” 2021) and two under his own name (“Here,” 2011, and “jazzamericana,” 2025).

“Some of the (original) songs are highly composed and they all have some improvising space in there,” says Nelson, where “we just let our freak flag fly.”

They also play covers including “Black Orpheus,” “Love for Sale,” the Kenny Burrell favorite “Midnight Blue,” the Miles Davis classic “Blue in Green,” “The Backwoods Song” and the Jim Hall version of Rodrigo’s classical “Concerto de Aranjuez.” Nelson says, “Playing covers, it’s best to start simple….I just try to learn the melody and see how I can get some chords in there and map out where I’m going.”

Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square 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, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative. This blog is a series media sponsor.

REVIEW – Steve Earle and Zandi Holup at Universal Preservation Hall, Thursday, June 5, 2025

Both veteran omni-troubadour Steve Earle and opener Zandi Holup had self-improvement on their minds Thursday at Universal Preservation Hall. Both took their demons out for a walk, and vanquished them.

Earle’s autobiography in songs and stories took a decades-long walk; from San Antonio childhood to New York City bodegas via Nashville music-biz travails; success on radio and world tours despite genre-jumping; addiction, prison and recovery; reconciliation with a sometimes troubled self and confident serenity.

He started in the 1970s and wound up at 70, at peace after spectacular highs and lows. Onstage from 8:35 to 10:40, his stories sometimes took longer to tell than the songs to sing.

Alone with his carbon-fiber guitar, he started uptempo with “Tom Ames’s Prayer,” written at 20 but not recorded until 20 years later, after prison and sobriety. The Civil War lament “Ben McCulloch” dug deeper into history, after Earle set it up with family-history episodes including his father’s FAA career. “Devil’s Right Hand,” he said, wasn’t originally a gun-control song, until it was; he wrote it while living in “a trailer full of guns” and cited murder stats as changing his mind. Springsteen’s approval, he recalled, made “Guitar Town” a success – a very up and down experience for the defiantly mercurial songwriter. 

He gave each song its due in extended intros, mostly around three minutes, though sometimes much more; but “My Old Friend the Blues” flowed into “Someday,” both thoughtful musings, with no stops or seams. 

He added harmonica in “I Ain’t Satisfied” and enlisted the first singalong, stepping away from the mic to lead the chorus. He then intro’ed “Number 29” with seven minutes of musing about tough teen times in San Antonio until friend Bubba (football jersey no. 29) defended him. Here his gravelly voice took on an affectionate, grateful sweetness. He muscled up again in “Copperhead Road” from his (1988) “rock and roll record;” here the forceful cadence and groove meant as much as the words as he lamented the Vietnam War like “Ben McCullouch” had the previous century’s mistake.

Then, his own came out, in the super-sad prison and execution tale of “Billy Austin.” He acknowledged self-destruction via drugs just when things were going well; he’d shrugged off many interventions before rehab and sobriety. Noting son Justin’s fentanyl overdose death somberly set up “Goodbye,” “Nashville Blues” and “Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain” – nor Earle, fortunately.

“Transcendental Blues” marked his return to a better self and active music-making, and the joyful anthemic “Nation of Immigrants” urged acceptance and empathy; the latter, he said, is the purpose of music. Honoring John Hartford, the Grand Ole Opry (he’ll be admitted in September, at Vince Gill’s invitation) and bluegrass as hillbilly bebop in the intro, his bluegrass experiment “The Mountain” waltzed serenely on cozy mandolin riffs. It also beautifully set up the epically angry talking blues-indictment-eulogy “It’s About Blood” mourning those lost in a mine-disaster. A few fans stood in tribute as Earle recited the names of the dead.

In his encore, Earle bought out opener Zandi Holup to duet on “Everything But You,” returned UPH to its church origins in the singalong “Tell Moses” and honored the Irish musicians he much admires in “Galway Girl.”

Burly, with Popeye arms and John Brown beard, he framed his un-pretty but powerful and accurate voice in mostly six-string guitar picking or chord strums. He changed occasionally to 12-string, mandolin or octave mandolin in simple settings that directed the ears to his words. Always the words.

Octave mandolin

Now 29, opener Zandi Holup shared Earle’s candor about fears and failings; fewer years but similar bumps and bruises. Her clear strong voice carried the authority of harsh lessons learned; sometimes on her own, as in the family-strife lament “Hurt People,” sometimes in the challenges of cherished friends. The compassionate cries in “Mary Jane” about a junkie friend yielded to happy reflection of now she got clean.

Zandi Holup

Pennsylvania-born and Nashville-based, her sturdy folk-country songcraft showed lessons chiefly from Earle, tour-mate over three summers now. In “Preacher’s Daughter,” she echoed his writing style so closely in rhyming and repetitions that you could almost hear his voice alongside hers – foreshadowing nicely their co-write and duet “Everything But You” in his encore. 

Steve Earle’s Setlist

Zandi Holup’s Setlist

Review – Dylan Canterbury Quintet Kicks Off Jazz on Jay Season Thursday, June 5, 2025

Trumpeter Dylan Canterbury put a confidently positive spin on things Thursday, opening the new 13-show season at Jazz on Jay in Schenectady’s Jay Square.

He led his quintet through his original swing-bop “Spin” to open, then followed with “Quiet Revolution” which he explained urges us to be the change we want to see. They closed 90 minutes later with the similarly optimistic standard “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams and Dream Your Troubles Away.”

Dylan Canterbury’s New Quintet – From left; Wyatt Ambrose, guitar; Dave Shoudy, bass; Canterbury; Matt Niedbaski, drums; and Tyler Giroux, keyboard

There was nothing didactic or naively simplistic about this since the well-made originals and carefully curated standards all inspired complex and sophisticated playing by all hands: Canterbury, trumpet and flugelhorn; Wyatt Ambrose, guitar; Tyler Giroux, piano; David Shoudy, bass and Matt Niedbalski, drums. Familiar faces to jazz fans hereabouts – Canterbury had introduced “Quiet Revolution” with Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble at the Van Dyck years ago – the quintet played its first gig just four days before. But there was nothing tentative or loose about this, either. They showed they know how to blend and how to emerge from the blend in individual statements that shed a personal light on things.

After the spry opener “Spin,” Canterbury noted “We’re off,” in racetrack parlance, shifting to a more reflective, slower tempo in “Quiet Revolution.” He took the best solos in both but let everybody shine throughout. Though Shoudy and Niedbalski took the fewest solos, they jumped out of their supporting roles whenever Canterbury cued them, with gusto and grace. Ambrose and Giroux bought fresh thinking and fluent playing to everything.

Noting they were shifting from their most serious-themed song, with its Buddhist serenity, to the least – “Torgo’s Lament” inspired by what Canterbury called a terrible movie* – they slowed to a waltz-time amble, Canterbury shifting to flugelhorn for a mellow feel, then stepping back for Shoudy to make his solo statement.

“Trust Fall” cruised on their more customary mid-tempo, and here Canterbury gave the drummer some and Niedbalski rose to the challenge, without distorting things, playing within the song and his groove.

Matt Niedbalski

Steve Swallow’s “Eiderdown” slid back to a mellow and conversational expression, nicely balanced but spiced with short, punchy statements. Then it was back to originals, the lively flugelhorn reverie “Bullfrog” with its complex cadence and bright, lively flow.

Tyler Giroux

The challenge of COVID shaped “One More Step,” an “it’s-always-SOMETHING” lament that launched from a sweet intro sentiment to adventurous riffing. Inspired by “Watershed Down,” the new “El-Ahrairah” – Canterbury enjoys celebrating animals – set breezy trumpet and guitar riffing in a cozy flow that resolved in a pulsing coda. 

Wyatt Ambrose

Two covers closed the show, to pleasing effect. Canterbury preemptively discouraged any smooth jazz expectations around Dave Grusin’s “Chanson” by mixing mockery with a faithful quote of Chuck Mangione’s saccharine “Feels So Good” before launching into a hearty, mellow, easy and very adult rendition as Shoudy’s bass pulsed sweet and strong.

Dave Shoudy

Reprising the optimistic mood of his own “Quiet Revolution” earlier. Canterbury acknowledged our tough times of strife and stress, offering an antidote to trouble in Bill Evans’ arrangement of “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.” This was no over-reverent antique, as everybody’s skill and spirit engaged the familiar melody in confident ownership and expression. And, like everything they tackled all the say, it swung, offering sweetness and light, but nothing obvious or superficial. Canterbury said in a pre-show interview a few days ago that he and this new quintet would play “largely in the post-bop style, influenced primarily by 1960s Blue Note recordings.” The songs, and performances, respected that promise to strong and effective purpose. Everybody was solid and confident, but Canterbury played as the first among equals. His ideas and phrasing were strong from the first times I saw him play in Keith Pray’s big band at the Van Dyck, but he has grown impressively since then, in confidence, complexity and imagination; swinging mellow or urgently proclaiming.

From left: Tyler Giroux, Dylan Canterbury, Wyatt Ambrose, Matt Niedbalski, Dave Shoudy

Sultry air – 88 degrees at show time, and throughout – drove fans under the four tents that organizers kindly provided, taking refuge from heat that almost, almost, discouraged Steve Nover from dancing. A few dozen third-graders marched in from the nearby charter school to sit in sometime fidgety rows up front. Discovering painter Ubu working in the wings off stage right, they clustered around her and she invited a few of the braver ones to help. Sweet.

Jazz on Jay continues Thursday, June 12 with guitarist Todd Nelson’s JazzAmericana trio: Nelson, guitar; Kyle Esposito, bass; and Justin Tracy, drums.

*Manos: The Hands of Fate.”

Linnea Bailey of the Proctors Collaborative Hosted Jazz on Jay

All Jazz on Jay shows are free. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 532 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors; fans bring their own seats 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.