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| David Kikoski's 'Weekend at Smalls' is out September 26, 2025 via Cellar Music Group David Kikoski, the Grammy-nominated pianist known for his post-bop fire and straight-ahead fluency, announces the release of Weekend at Smalls, the latest installment of the SmallsLIVE Living Master Series, out September 26 on Cellar Music Group. A longtime fixture on the New York jazz scene, Kikoski has brought his virtuosic touch to bands led by Roy Haynes, Michael and Randy Brecker, and the Mingus Big Band — the latter earning a Grammy in 2011 for Live at the Jazz Standard. Recorded at the storied West Village jazz haven in the fall of 2024 — two nights of live performance and a Monday session in front of a small audience — Weekend at Smalls finds him in peak form alongside bassist Joe Martin, drummer Billy Hart, and special guest trumpeter Randy Brecker. Since his 1989 debut, Presage — whose title track appears here — Kikoski has been hailed by his peers as a singular voice on the instrument. "The brilliant playing of David Kikoski just smokes. His playing is sparkling, " said the late Chick Corea. Roy Haynes once remarked: "Dave has so much feeling. He can play anything. I depend on him for so much." The jazz press has echoed that praise. JazzTimes lauded Kikoski's 2006 album Almost Twilight for its "unclichéd compositions… [that] typically utilize unconventional forms and a variety of metrical approaches… surprisingly accessible to listeners." Criss Cross Jazz praised his 2012 trio outing Consequences as "complex, elegant and bluesy… an essential item in Kikoski's growing oeuvre." DownBeat called 2021's Phoenix Rising the product of "a rock-solid ensemble [that] should bring him wider attention." All About Jazz has likewise recognized him as "among the brightest lights on New York City's jazz scene for more than two decades." Kikoski's relationship with Smalls runs deep. A fellow pianist and longtime peer of club proprietor Spike Wilner, he recalls playing jam sessions there in the early days before becoming a regular on the bandstand. "Spike started offering me gigs, which I really appreciated, " he says. "A lot of the best bands in New York play there, and I was happy to be part of that — both as a leader and a sideman." The two share a generational and musical kinship, often bonding over their favorite pianists and shared influences. Kikoski sees Mezzrow — the intimate piano room Wilner opened in 2014, just across Seventh Avenue from Smalls — as a spiritual successor to the legendary Bradley's. "It's got that same kind of piano bar feel, " he says. "They've got drums and horns and guitar there sometimes, but the vibe really centers around the piano — like Bradley's did. There just aren't many places like that anymore." Kikoski's rapport with Billy Hart began on saxophonist Ralph Moore's 623 C Street (1987), which also featured bassist Buster Williams. At the time, Kikoski and Moore were both playing with Roy Haynes, and the chance to record with Hart — a veteran of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band — felt, as he puts it, "like a dream come true." That session sparked a long-running collaboration: Hart featured Kikoski on albums like Amethyst and regularly performed his original compositions. His relationship with Randy Brecker dates back even further, to 1986, when Brecker invited him to join the band on In the Idiom, a landmark session with Joe Henderson and Al Foster. The two toured extensively in the years that followed, including in a long-running group with Bob Berg. Kikoski's connection with bassist Joe Martin took root at a South American festival with Kurt Rosenwinkel, and has since deepened through ongoing trio work with Hart. Though the quartet on Weekend at Smalls had never played together as a unit before, Kikoski says the chemistry was immediate: "We're all old friends — musically and personally — so it felt completely natural, like putting on a comfortable pair of sneakers." The album opens with "Winney's Garden, " a contrafact based on the chord changes to "Sweet Georgia Brown." "That was a pleasure to play with the guys, " Kikoski says. "People don't hear Randy play straight-ahead that much, since they're used to him with the Brecker Brothers and all that. But I think of his straight-ahead playing — over contrafacts, old standard tunes — as very modern." "Shadow" is an older Kikoski original, first recorded on his self-titled 1994 Sony/Epicure album with the late Al Foster. Some years later, Billy Hart heard it on the radio and decided to record his own version — a session featuring Chris Potter on soprano sax. "I thought it would be a great one to do again, and Randy had never played it before, " Kikoski says. "The changes are a little more contemporary and modal, and Randy plays it beautifully. Joe's intonation and time feel are amazing, and it really features everyone in the band. It was nice to play that again with Billy." "There's a Mingus a Monk Us" was originally recorded on Randy Brecker's 1986 album In the Idiom, which featured an all-star lineup including Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, and Al Foster. "That was one of the hits on that record — Randy still talks about it on his gigs, " says Kikoski. "He wrote it with the idea of what it would sound like if Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus had collaborated on a tune. That's why it's called 'There's a Mingus a Monk Us.' It's always fun to play — we used to start sets with it on Randy's tours, and go from there." "Presage" is a ballad drawn from Kikoski's 1989 debut album of the same name, released on the French label Freelance Records. "I recorded that with Eddie Gomez and Al Foster, " he says. "It was my first recording, and we did it while I was on tour with Roy Haynes — we were always playing in France, so I ended up doing it for this small French label." Revisited here more than three decades later, "Presage" remains one of Kikoski's favorite originals to play. "Straight, No Chaser" brings the set back to Thelonious Monk. "It was kind of a good warm-up tune, " says Kikoski. "We interpreted it very freely, with all of Monk's chromaticism and everything. It's a perfect vehicle for Randy, as well as the rest of the guys in the band." "Moontide, " a favorite Brecker ballad, also dates to In the Idiom. "We played that all over the world, " Kikoski recalls. "It's probably my favorite Randy Brecker ballad — beautiful tune, kind of a straight-eighth ballad with almost an ECM flavor." The closing track, "Cecilia, " is a Kikoski original written for saxophonist Ralph Moore. "We were on the road with Roy Haynes and Ralph told me, 'I'm going to do my own record and I want you to write a special tune for it, '" Kikoski says. "When he told me Billy Hart and Buster Williams were going to be the rhythm section — like Herbie Hancock's rhythm section — I was amazed, I was thrilled. So that's what I came up with." Reflecting on the experience, Kikoski says the project holds deep personal meaning. "It means the world to me, " he says. "I'm very happy to have this trio — we've been playing together for quite a few years." He notes recent appearances at the Side Door Jazz Club, the 2024 NYC Piano Jazz Festival, and a December 2023 tour in Shanghai. "Putting Randy in as a special guest was just an honor for me, because I've been working with his band forever, " Kikoski concludes. "It was the perfect combination — a great document of a fantastic weekend playing with my favorite musicians." ## Winney's Garden Shadow There's a Mingus a Monk Us Presage Straight No Chaser Moontide Cecilia write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |