Ensemble Newsletter · September 28, 2026
Wilkins holds the Vanguard, Schwarz-Bart lands an album, and Lang Lang plays the Emperor
NYC picks, jazz and classical, updated weekly
Three picks for the week of September 28: a six-night stand at the Vanguard from the alto player everyone is arguing about, a record release downtown, and one of the largest names in classical music taking on the Emperor at Geffen Hall. Two jazz nights and a marquee, in that order. Here is where we would be.
Immanuel Wilkins Quartet — Village Vanguard
Wilkins is the most talked-about alto player of his generation and he brings the band that justifies it: Micah Thomas on piano, Ryoma Takenaga on bass, Kweku Sumbry on drums. Six nights at the Vanguard is where a young quartet either proves the case or does not. Runs through Sunday.
Event details →Jacques Schwarz-Bart: RESISTANCE Album Release — The Jazz Gallery
The Guadeloupean tenor player brings RESISTANCE to the Gallery with Or Bareket on bass and Elé Howell on drums, a trio thin enough that every choice shows. Schwarz-Bart has spent a career threading gwoka rhythm through postbop without sanding down either one. Sets at seven and nine.
Event details →Lang Lang and Gustavo Dudamel — David Geffen Hall
Lang Lang takes Beethoven's Emperor with Dudamel and the Philharmonic, on a program that opens with a Zosha Di Castri co-commission and the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth. The Emperor is the concerto that rewards a pianist willing to hold back before the last movement. He is not usually the holding-back type, which is the interest.
Event details →