Episode 29: Revisiting the Golden Era of Williamsburg Jazz with the Alessi Quartet

We open the vault for another installment of our Blind Pig series, traveling back 20 years to September 15, 2006, for a rare bootleg of the Ralph Alessi Quartet live at Layla Lounge. In this episode, we revisit a nostalgic set at the Williamsburg Jazz Festival featuring Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Brad Shepik on guitar, Scott Colley on bass, and a 26-year-old Tyshawn Sorey on drums. We reflect on the vibrant, pre-condo Brooklyn loft scene of the mid-2000s, exploring the history of lost venues and the grassroots origins of the Williamsburg Jazz Festival. We also unpack what these heavyweight musicians were up to in 2006, from Alessi’s School for Improvisational Music (SIM) to Brad Shepik’s Balkan folk-jazz integrations, while listening to the quartet’s intense interplay over the ambient sounds of a Brooklyn hookah bar. Note: Birch Grove Media does not own the recordings featured in this episode.