Jason Yeager & Justin Poindexter to Release LITTLE CROW Album

Pianist Jason Yeager and guitarist Justin Poindexter bring together two remarkable figures from New York's jazz history-bassist Bill Crow, 98, and drummer Steve Little, 91-for Little Crow, a spirited quartet recording that bridges generations and musical traditions. Recorded in a single afternoon with all four musicians playing together in one room, the album moves freely between jazz standards, bluegrass, Latin music, and new compositions written for the occasion.

Club44 Records will release the album February 26, 2027, following the November 1 release of its first single, Billy Strayhorn's 'Blood Count,' and the quartet's live debut at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The band presents two sets on November 1, at 5:00 and 7:30 pm, with tickets available at https://ticketing.jazz.org/21678/21681.

The project brings together musicians whose careers span more than seven decades of American music. Crow arrived in New York in 1950 and was soon playing with Stan Getz. He went on to work extensively with Gerry Mulligan and Marian McPartland, chronicling the jazz world in his books Jazz Anecdotes and From Birdland to Broadway. Little played in Duke Ellington's orchestra before embarking on decades of Broadway, studio, and television work, including recordings for Sesame Street. Both remain deeply engaged and adventurous musicians, bringing a lifetime of experience to a session that was as much about discovery as it was about musical history.

Perhaps no selection illustrates that connection more vividly than the forthcoming single 'Blood Count.' Little played on Ellington's original recording of Strayhorn's haunting final composition in 1967. Before the quartet's performance, Little recounts the only musical direction he remembers receiving from Ellington: 'Play something exotic.'

Revisiting such a historically significant piece initially gave both Little and Poindexter pause, but the performance became a defining moment for the group. 'What was really cool about this, which really set the tone for the band, is that we're taking something that's a piece of history-in this case, one that Steve was part of-but very much finding our own incredibly intimate energy in how we approach it,' Poindexter explains.

Yeager and Poindexter had talked for years about making a record together. The two musicians live one flight apart in the same Washington Heights co-op, where they have developed a close friendship and musical partnership while raising their families. Though guitar and piano can easily compete for the same musical space, both musicians share a commitment to attentive, economical playing. As Poindexter puts it, 'Every note matters.'

Poindexter first met Crow shortly after moving to New York some 20 years ago, while Yeager had previously worked with Little on an Ellington and Strayhorn tribute. The four musicians came together at 360 Sound Studios with an eclectic collection of music and few predetermined arrangements. Four or five hours later, the album was complete.

Yeager describes the experience as 'a record date from the old days.' The musicians recorded without headphones, sitting together in a circle and responding to one another in real time. 'We were all in a room, all in a circle, looking at each other,' Poindexter recalls. 'It was an extremely informal kind of recording.'

'They're so great at providing a foundation, and yet they do it with a lot of personality and heart and presence,' Yeager says of Crow and Little. 'They bring so much of themselves to the music.'

The album's title composition, 'Little Crow,' was written by Yeager and Poindexter especially for their collaborators. Poindexter contributed the main theme, with Yeager adding harmonization and an interlude featuring Little. 'The idea was to express the joy and exuberance we felt at playing with these masters and have a little fun,' Yeager explains. The playful composition suggests both Thelonious Monk and the swing era, reflecting the quartet's affection for jazz history without being confined by it.

The unexpected repertoire is part of the album's charm. Poindexter, whose musical background encompasses bluegrass, country, and American roots music, introduced Bill Monroe's 'Lonesome Moonlight Waltz,' a bluegrass instrumental whose lyrical form also recalls popular songs of the 1930s and '40s. He was particularly curious to hear how Crow and Little would approach music outside their usual repertoire.

On Harry Warren and Al Dubin's 'Sweet and Slow,' which Crow had previously recorded with Gerry Mulligan, the bassist set an unusually deliberate tempo, giving the quartet room to explore every phrase. 'Boy, did we take it slow,' Poindexter remembers. 'When you play that slow, you find corners in tunes that you didn't even know were there.' For the younger musicians, the performance became something of a master class in patience, phrasing, and collective listening.

Another highlight is Osvaldo Farrés' 'Tres Palabras,' a melody Poindexter first encountered as a child while watching a documentary about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. During the session, Little surprised his bandmates by suggesting a 'Catskills Latin' beat-a reference to an earlier world of working musicians and dance-band styles. 'That alone is just a slice of music history,' Poindexter says. Yeager describes the resulting performance as 'purely in the moment-unrehearsed, unarranged.'

Elsewhere, the quartet explores Irving Berlin's 'How Deep Is the Ocean,' Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes,' and Cannonball Adderley's 'Sermonette,' which takes on an unexpectedly funky, almost early rock-and-roll feeling in Little's hands. Yeager contributes 'Squirmy Baby,' a mischievous original inspired by his young daughter Lulu, while Poindexter offers 'Beyond the Western Moon,' a song originally written for vocalist Hilary Gardner that finds new life as an instrumental. Throughout, the musicians approach familiar and unfamiliar material with the same openness and curiosity.

For Yeager and Poindexter, the session was a reminder of the remarkable adaptability of musicians whose careers began in a very different recording era. Little's work with Ellington demanded quick musical decisions and deep listening; his later studio career required an equally instinctive command of countless styles. Crow brings the same fluency, musical imagination, and unmistakable personality to everything he plays.

Not long after their first mixing session, Poindexter happened to run into Little on the 1 train. Riding downtown together, Little reminisced about the countless recording dates of his career-some efficient, others hurried, and some that seemed to go nowhere. He told Poindexter that this session had gone particularly well. Coming from a musician with Little's experience, the observation carried special weight.

Produced by Yeager and Poindexter, Little Crow was engineered by Jeff Hoffman and Scott Anderson at 360 Sound Studios and mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording in New York City. Club44 Records will release the album on February 26, 2027, with U.S. distribution by The Orchard and Sony Music Entertainment.

The quartet makes its live debut on Sunday, November 1, at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, with performances at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. Advance copies of Little Crow will be available at the club, and the evening also marks the digital release of the album's first single, 'Blood Count.' Tickets: https://ticketing.jazz.org/21678/21681.

ABOUT JASON YEAGER

What do Kurt Vonnegut, Thelonious Monk, and Latin American folk music have in common? All find their way into the music of New York-based pianist, composer, and educator Jason Yeager. An imaginative soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, Yeager has released eight critically acclaimed albums of original music, including recent collaborations with Julie Benko and Miguel Zenón. In 2027, he will release two new projects: Little Crow, with Justin Poindexter, and Quotidian Songbook, with his trio. His music has been featured in DownBeat, JazzTimes, The New York Times, WQXR, and WBGO. He has performed across five continents, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and on Broadway, and has collaborated with Sean Jones, Luciana Souza, Matt Wilson, and George Garzone. A graduate of the Tufts University/New England Conservatory Double Degree Program and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, Yeager teaches at Berklee College of Music and MIT.

ABOUT JUSTIN POINDEXTER

Justin Poindexter is an acclaimed guitarist, songwriter, and educator whose expressive playing bridges jazz, American roots music, and the Great American Songbook. Praised by DownBeat as 'a particularly gifted interpreter of American roots music,' Poindexter brings lyrical improvisation, musical curiosity, and a deep appreciation for American musical traditions to his work. The Wall Street Journal described his playing as combining 'the Nashville virtuosity of Chet Atkins with the postmodern jazz Americana soundscapes of Bill Frisell,' creating 'something new and wondrous.' His collaboration with vocalist Hilary Gardner, On the Trail With The Lonesome Pines, was named the #7 jazz album of 2024 by The Times of London and received the Western Heritage Award for Best Traditional Western Album. He recently contributed to David Amram's Old Souls, a tribute to Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs produced by Nora Guthrie. Beyond the bandstand, Poindexter serves as Director of Schools and Community Programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center and teaches at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he is helping develop its American Roots Music program.

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