Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Renee Rosnes – piano Steve Nelson – vibraphone Peter Washington – bass Lewis Nash – drums “Few jazz pianists are as scarily satisfying.” – The Times (UK) Renee Rosnes, one of the essential pianists and composers working today, leads a quartet of some of her favorite colleagues. “Her style at the keyboard is powerful and modernistic, combining classical technique and sharp, clean phrases with a dramatic compositional style,” says Stereogum, “The music is reminiscent of mid-’60s Blue Note albums by players like Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson (with whom Rosnes worked), Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams; it swings, and never loses touch with the blues, but it’s also abstract and biting.” Rosnes’s impressive quartet includes vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lewis Nash.
Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Tierney Sutton – vocals Christian Jacob – piano Ricky Rodriguez – bass Lenny White – drums “A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level.” – The New York Times Tierney Sutton, the nine-time GRAMMY-nominated jazz vocalist, returns to SMOKE by popular demand backed by a sublime trio with pianist Christian Jacob, bassist Ricky Rodriguez, and special guest drummer Lenny White. One of the most acclaimed jazz vocalists, Sutton is renowned for her impeccable voice and imaginative treatments of standards, and she has received GRAMMY nominations for every project she has released in the last decade. Jazz Times describes her recent recordings as marking her transition “from great to iconic.” The New York Times adds, “Ms. Sutton is a pure jazz spirit who respects a song. Even when going out on an improvisatory limb, she never lets its essence slip away.”
Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Catherine Russell – vocals Sean Mason – piano “A piano and a voice, nothing else – done right, it never gets old. Catherine Russell and Sean Mason do it right.” – Relix Vocalist Catherine Russell makes her Smoke debut in a thrilling duo with pianist Sean Mason. This inspired collaboration, a convergence of sage experience and youthful virtuosity, resulted in the acclaimed 2024 release My Ideal. They perform repertoire spanning the jazz tradition from the early beginnings of the music with homages to James P. Johnson and Fats Waller to the confluence of jazz and popular music with tributes to Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra. In addition to her impressive jazz career, Russell has toured and recorded with Steely Dan, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, Levon Helm, and Rosanne Cash, among others, appearing on over 200 albums. Her jazz career has been at least as successful, with celebrated performances worldwide at major jazz festivals, clubs, and concert halls. NPR says her voice “wails like a horn and whispers like a snake in the Garden of Eden,” All Music Guide adds, “Russell emerged as a retro old-school vocalist for the ages." Mason was hailed by NPR’s “Youngbloods” series as a musician on the rise, and Branford Marsalis says, “Watch out for this kid.”
Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Ravi Coltrane – saxophones Gadi Lehavi – piano Elé Salif Howell – drums “A worthy heir to his father, jazz legend John Coltrane.” – The Telegraph (UK) Critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane makes a highly anticipated Smoke Jazz Club debut with his inspired trio featuring pianist Gadi Lehavi and drummer Elé Howell. An artist whose career occupies a singular niche in modern jazz, Ravi Coltrane has established a sound and concepts that stand undeniably on their own, extending far beyond the shadow of his iconic name. Over a twenty-plus-year career, Coltrane has worked as a sideman to many and recorded noteworthy albums for himself and others, including McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Terence Blanchard, Geri Allen, and many more. All About Jazz reviewed his group, saying, “The band is dynamite. Coltrane mainly played tenor, on which his sound is massive but softer-edged and less biting than that of his father.” The New York Times adds, "There are few saxophonists in jazz today as silvery and deft as Ravi Coltrane."
Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Nicholas Payton – trumpet Eric Alexander – tenor saxophone Eric Scott Reed – piano Peter Washington – bass Joe Farnsworth – drums “Reed is one of those tremendously gifted players.” – Downbeat Countdown 2025 continues with an exciting Coltrane-inspired quintet assembled by piano master Eric Scott Reed, who All About Jazz reports has “fully established himself in the forefront of jazz pianists.” A child prodigy who grew up playing in his father’s storefront Baptist Church, Reed has been one of the most important ambassadors of the music for over 30 years. Ahmad Jamal called him “one of my very favorite pianists.” Joining Reed is a virtuoso front line, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonist Eric Alexander, and an all-star rhythm section, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
Livestreams are Available for 48 Hours in Every Time Zone Eddie Henderson – trumpet Vincent Herring – alto saxophone George Cables – piano Yasushi Nakamura – bass Joe Farnsworth – drums “His musical wisdom, gleaned during decades spent on the best jazz bandstands, informs every unerring note.” – Downbeat SMOKE’s year-end Coltrane Festival “Countdown 2025” welcomes trumpet great Eddie Henderson as the special guest with the Vincent Herring Quartet featuring legendary pianist George Cables. The New York Times says Henderson’s “deft feel and plush sound made him a central figure in the worlds of jazz-funk and hard-bop in the 1970s. The Chicago Reader adds, “His progressive, assured, and imaginative improvisations roll out in a glorious sun-splashed tone… he seems to dance through his solos, balancing his quick clockwork technique with bursts of bluesy soul.” The eternally youthful Henderson has proven again that he is still making some of the most important music of his career into his 80s. Henderson is featured alongside old friend and fellow legend, pianist George Cables, in this quintet. All About Jazz writes, “Anyone who is serious about jazz will tell you that George Cables belongs in the pantheon of the greatest jazz pianists.” Finally, it’s all helmed by the incredible Vincent Herring, one of the great alto saxophonists, who the New York City Jazz Record says “has firmly established himself as one of his generation’s masters.”