Ray Larsen At Zig Zag March 24, 2026

Ray Larsen at Zig Zag tonight, in a trio, playing old tunes, from the 30s — Benny Goodman, Cole Porter, others from the American Songbook. Cole Schuster on guitar, not sure the name on clarinet/alto saxophone.

Great trio sound. Guitar chunking out Freddie Green style comping, then seamlessly bouncing into solos with chords — Cole’s great. The horns sounding right on, all that 1-6-2-5 harmony, very joyful, fits that Zig Zag vibe.

That kind of 30s songwriting has such great chords under the melody. Reminds me of some jazzer on a podcast talking about modern pop music — he commented that there are a lot of great melodies these days, but the chords underneath them are trash, so boring. Those old school writers could harmonize melodies with such aplomb.

As much as the old (old, super old) school stuff was great, gotta say that when they busted out Carla Bley’s “Lawns” in the second set it was next level. Emotionally resonant in a way the old stuff wasn’t — maybe the consciousness alteration that happened post-sixties, where we hear and think and feel in a different way. That was the tune, along with some blues that hit, which left me with something.

Props to those guys for making magic. Shout out to Ray for his tone on the trumpet, blowing Gabriel lines, and his compatriot on the alto/clarinet, so melodic. Love the Zig Zag.