COUNTDOWN 2026 COLTRANE FESTIVAL VII: Eric Alexander and Vincent Herring Quintet featuring special guest Eric Scott Reed

Sun, Jan 04

*PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows $25.00 / $50.00 / $60.00 / $65.00 – Thu, Fri, Sat & Sun Vincent Herring – alto saxophone Eric Alexander – tenor saxophone Eric Scott Reed – piano Peter Washington – bass Johnathan Blake– drums “Herring fuses instrumental mastery with equal and unified parts of jazz’s holy trinity of heart, mind, and soul.” – WNPR Radio “Eric Alexander can play the tenor saxophone—never doubt that. He has the chops, power, and passion that make him one of the most blazingly bad-assed saxophonists of his generation.” – Downbeat Vincent Herring and Eric Alexander—two of the greatest saxophonists around—on alto and tenor respectively, close out our 13th Annual Coltrane Festival, Countdown 2026, as only they could, with the help of special guest pianist Eric Scott Reed and two of the very best in bassist Peter Washington and drummer Johnathan Blake. Alexander and Herring released a new album together in 2025 called Split Decision to rave reviews. Jazz Weekly called it “a knockout!” Paris Move, “a high-caliber classic,” and JazzWise, a “tour de force.” When these two virtuosos meet, the sparks fly, and the temperature rises. It’s been 20 years since they first went head-to-head on record for 2005’s The Battle: Live at Smoke. Both were already acclaimed among the powerhouse reedmen of their generation, and they have only garnered more acclaim in the two decades since. All About Jazz says, “For those who long for the time when hard bop reigned supreme... here's a sure cure for any lament that those days are lost and gone forever.”