Ensemble Newsletter · August 24, 2026
A big-band album release, Joe Lovano and Julian Lage at the Vanguard, and Kurt Rosenwinkel at Smalls
NYC picks, jazz and classical, updated weekly
Three picks for the week of August 24, from a live-album celebration above Columbus Circle to a marquee week at the Village Vanguard and a guitar legend in a West Village basement. An all-jazz week, and a strong one. Here is where we would be.
Jared Schonig Big Band: Live Album Release Celebration — Dizzy's Club
Drummer Jared Schonig opens the week celebrating Live At Dizzy's, an album cut in this very room across two sold-out sets last year. He runs a full big band from behind the kit, pairing new charts with older classics filtered through eight of the city's sharpest arrangers. Fitting to hear a live record where it was born.
Event details →Joe Lovano's Paramount Quartet — Village Vanguard
Saxophonist Joe Lovano convenes his Paramount Quartet at the Vanguard with a front line that turns heads: Julian Lage on guitar, Santi Debriano on bass, Will Calhoun on drums. Lovano has spent four decades bending post-bop toward something freer and more searching, and Lage's guitar gives him a restless, modern foil. A marquee week at a room that rewards showing up early.
Event details →Kurt Rosenwinkel "Next Step Band" — Smalls Jazz Club
Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, one of the most quietly influential voices to come through New York jazz in the last thirty years, revives his Next Step Band for two sets at Smalls. His playing is all long lines and harmonic weather, the kind that shaped a generation of players who came up studying his records. Two sets in the basement, and the later one is usually where it opens up.
Event details →