COUNTDOWN 2027 COLTRANE FESTIVAL V: Steve Turre with the Countdown Festival Quartet featuring Vincent Herring & Eric Scott Reed

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*PLEASE NOTE: All 6:00PM and 8:00PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows $25.00 / $60.00 / $70.00 / $75.00 – Thu Steve Turre – trombone & seashells Vincent Herring – alto saxophone Eric Scott Reed – piano Gerald Cannon – bass Willie Jones III – drums “Perhaps the leading trombonist of this generation.” – Rolling Stone “Herring fuses instrumental mastery with equal and unified parts of jazz’s holy trinity of heart, mind, and soul.” – WNPR “Eric Scott Reed has been a pianist of fiery passion and soulful finesse.” – WRTI On Christmas Eve, trombone and seashell innovator Steve Turre is the special guest of the Countdown Festival Quartet featuring saxophonist Vincent Herring and pianist Eric Scott Reed. Turre’s storied career includes work alongside music legends Ray Charles, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Woody Shaw, and he has consistently won both the Readers’ and Critics’ polls in JazzTimes , DownBeat , and Jazziz for “Best Trombone” and “Best Miscellaneous Instrumentalist (shells).” A versatile master and a true jazz original, he is, in the words of DownBeat , an artist who “owns” his instrument: “Whether playing the music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, performing as a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, or with one of his own groups, his voice is distinctive and memorable.” The Countdown Festival Quartet is led by two Smoke favorites: alto saxophonist Vincent Herring and pianist Eric Scott Reed. The New York City Jazz Record says Herring “has firmly established himself as one of his generation’s masters,” and The New York Times notes that he “projects his sound in a strong, centered beam.” His latest Smoke Sessions release, Split Decision , a live summit with tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander recorded at Smoke, prompted Downbeat to call the pair “two of the finest saxophonists on the jazz scene,” and made The Times of London’s mid-year list of the best jazz albums of 2025. Reed, a veteran of Wynton Marsalis’s septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, is “one of my very favorite pianists,” according to the late, great Ahmad Jamal, and All About Jazz says he has “fully established himself at the forefront of jazz pianists.” With bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III rounding out the rhythm section, it’s a hard-swinging band that anchors Smoke’s holiday week of special guests.