The Jazz Gallery Presents: Lex Korten's Canopy

Photo courtesy of the artist.

This Thursday, pianist Lex Korten returns to The Jazz Gallery with a new project, Canopy. Since returning to his hometown of New York after school at the University of Michigan, Korten has used his performances at the Gallery to explore different sides of his musical personality. In an interview with Jazz Speaks, Korten describes an interaction from his first Gallery performances that motivated new music for his second:

It was after my first show at The Jazz Gallery that an audience member, someone I’d never met and someone who is not a musician, came up to me. They were saying a lot of really nice things about the set, and they threw in that the music sort of lacked a sense of humor. I thought that was funny, because for many years I have said in my head that I don’t think your music can have this bounce, or sense of swing I guess, if you're a person who doesn't have a sense of humor.

It didn’t feel like the end of the world, but when I thought about the set, I thought, “You know, they are completely right.” After consciously writing with that in mind, I do think that there’s something about the music for this [new] set that feels warmer, like it has that sense of joviality.

Korten’s Canopy floats atop a bass-less instrumentation, featuring voice, alto sax, guitar, and drums. Come out to hear yet another color of Korten’s music.

Lex Korten’s Canopy plays The Jazz Gallery on Thursday, May 26, 2022. The group features Mr. Korten on piano, Claire Dickson on voice, David Leon on alto saxophone, Tal Yahalom on guitar, and Stephen Boegehold on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. $15 general adission (FREE for members), $25 reserved cabaret seating ($10 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.