Don’t we fans just hate it when two fine jazz crews play here the same night?

Both the Bill O’Connell Quartet at A Place for Jazz and Old Friends Beckoned/New Sounds Reckoned at WAMC’s The Linda feature Capital Region jazz heroes Friday. Both mix experienced stars with younger players, and both presenting organizations are non-profits. 

Union College-trained bassist Santi Debriano plays at A Place for Jazz in the rhythm section of the Bill O’Connell Quartet featuring Craig Handy, alongside ageless drummer Bill Hart (84 next month), while Schenectady-raised saxophonist Matt Steckler leads the Old Friends Beckoned project which features prolific, versatile bassist Lonnie Plaxico (64 as of last month).

After noting those similarities, I flipped a coin to chose which show to explain first, or to attend on Friday.

Old Friends Beckoned are Steckler, keyboardist Yayoi Ikawa, bassist Plaxico and drummer Tony Lewis; it’s also the title of the album they just made together and are introducing Friday. 

From left: Larry Lewis, drums; Lonnie Plaxico, bass; Yayoi Ikawa, piano; and Matt Steckler (aka Matty Stecks), reeds. Photo provided.

Schenectady High School grad Steckler got busy back here after training at Trinity, the New England Conservatory and NYU; then a teaching stint in Manitoba. After previously leading Dead Cat Bounce, Persiflage and Musical Tramps, he assembled these NYC players to improvise together. The band played Caffe Lena before Lewis joined; more recently Steckler played Jazz on Jay and at his three-band birthday party in Bennington.

Tokyo-born pianist/composer Ikawa has released two albums of original material and played festivals here, in Europe, Japan and the Latin Caribbean.

Plaxico has played here most often with Cassandra Wilson, but his past gigs include experimental and straight ahead jazz masters Sonny Stitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Alice Coltrane and Abbey Lincoln, in addition to making five albums as bandleader.

Diverse assignments also shaped Lewis, from jazz giant Dizzy Gillespie to rock stars Little Richard, Sam Moore (Sam & Dave) and Sting to bluesman B.B. King and genre-jumping originals Me’Shell N’degeocello and pop diva Cyndi Lauper.

In a late addition, Steckler brings in trumpeter Chris Pasin and singer Wanda L. Houston for Friday’s performance 

Old Friends Beckoned aka Steckler/Ikawa/Plaxico/Lewis (plus two) play WAMC’s The Linda Performing Arts Studio (339 Central Ave,, Albany) Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. $20 General Admission. 518-465-5322. http://www.thelinda.org.

Meanwhile, 16 miles away (26 minutes, at the speed limit) and starting 30 minutes earlier, A Place for Jazz presents the Bill O’Connell Quartet featuring Craig Handy.

Bill O’Connell, left; Craig Handy, right. Photo provided

Oberlin-trained hyper-versatile pianist-leader O’Connell has won awards and nominations as a jazz writer, composer-arranger, and performer inspired by Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock; as well as valued sideman with straight-ahead stars including Sonny Rollins and Chet Baker, and Latin jazz giants Mongo Santamaria, Dave Valentin and Gato Barbieri.

Craig Handy played trombone, piano and guitar before Dexter Gordon’s playing inspired him to settle on saxophone, training at North Texas State University among David Murray, Joshua Rodman and other stars and earning the Charlie Parker Scholarship. Moving to New York, he accompanied singers Betty Carter and Dee Dee Bridgewater, played with the Mingus Big Band and smaller groups led by Art Blakey, Roy Haynes and Abdullah Ibrahim (at The Egg November 17!). He also portrayed Coleman Hawkins in Robert Altman’s film “Kansas City.”

Trained at Union College, the New England Conservatory and Wesleyan University, bassist Santi Debriano is perfectly cast on Friday: He has accompanied many saxophonists including Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Fortune, David Murray, Lee Konitz and more.

NEA jazz master drummer Billy Hart may be the most celebrated name in Friday’s two jazz shows after playing with Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Herbie Hancock, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, McCoy Tyner and Shirley Horn.

The Bill O’Connell Quartet featuring Craig Handy plays Friday at 7:30 p.m. at A Place for Jazz in the Carl B. Taylor Auditorium of the SUNY Schenectady County Community College Music School. $25, students $10. http://www.aplaceforjazz.org.