Cowboys & Frenchmen
“The ensemble is smart, cohesive, and credible in a way like The Bad Plus or Mostly Other People Do The Killing, using virtuosic skills and rhythmic power to walk the line between irony and earnestness, with listenability as high a priority as group creativity.”
Cowboys & Frenchmen is a new take on instrumentation, composition, and orchestration for the jazz quintet. “The band makes a glorious sound – more like a larger ensemble at times – providing intriguing, innovative and sublime music,” [Mike Gates, UK Vibe]. The front line of two alto saxophones is the vehicle for reimagining the role of horns in a small group setting, charting new territory by exploring individuality within the same timbre.
Following the top placement on radio charts of their debut album Rodeo (2015) and the four-star review from DownBeat Magazine of Bluer Than You Think (2017), the New York City-based quintet released its inventive third recording as a video album entitled Our Highway (2021). Recorded live at SubCulture, the album weaves together footage of Cowboys & Frenchmen onstage in one of New York City’s most renowned venues with scenes from a cross-country tour. Singles from the project were premiered by JazzTimes and WBGO, and the full film premiere was hosted by Live From Our Living Rooms.
Cowboys & Frenchmen have visited over twenty cities in all regions of the country, performing at notable venues including Blues Alley (Washington, D.C.), Arts Garage (Boca Raton, FL), Art Boutiki (San Jose, CA), Herb Alpert’s Vibrato (Los Angeles, CA), Cliff Bell’s (Detroit, MI), and at the 2016 North American Saxophone Alliance Conference hosted by Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX). With a deep commitment to jazz education, the ensemble pairs its performances with community outreach in the cities it visits, having presented masterclasses at the University of Michigan, Southern Methodist University, and Florida Atlantic University, among others.