Big band music met experimental jazz when the Grammy Award-nominated Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band took the stage at Bryant Park on Aug. 1. The event was part of Bryant Park Picnic Performances, which brings free music to New York City every summer.

The band, which composer, pianist Evans named after his father’s brand of pipe tobacco, celebrated both new music and old favorites, blending blues, soul and avant-garde. Even jazz standards such as “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” were played with an inspiring new interpretation.

With Evans on piano, the band features a rotating cast of talented musicians, which means audiences can always expect the sound the band produces to be somewhat different and unique.

What made the evening especially electric was the band’s willingness to color outside the lines. Evans, both a commanding pianist and a generous bandleader, gave his musicians space to stretch, riff, and take the audience on unexpected detours, sometimes raucous, sometimes delicate, always alive. Solos emerged organically, and each player brought a distinctive voice to the ensemble, yet the band never lost its cohesion.

From the first downbeat to the final cymbal crash, this was not just a concert — it was a living, breathing conversation between artists and audience, between tradition and innovation. Evans and his crew didn’t just revisit jazz history; they rewrote it in real time, right there on the lawn.

As the sun set over Bryant Park and the city lights flickered on, the music lingered in the air — a reminder that jazz, in the hands of fearless artists like Evans, is as vital and unpredictable as ever.

Future picnic performances in Bryant Park:
Dez Duron on Aug. 8
World Music Institute: Sunny Jain’s Wild East & Gamelan Dharma Swara on Aug. 15

Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band
Bryant Park Picnic Performances
Aug. 1, 2025