The October 1–4 weekend contains a particularly tidy first-night jazz route: three quartets, two clubs, and a through line of horn players who lead from inside working bands. Thursday, October 1, begins with Alexandra Ridout’s trumpet quartet at Smalls Jazz Club, moves uptown to Mark Turner’s Patternmaster release engagement at Smoke Jazz Club, then returns downtown for Caroline Davis’s alto-saxophone quartet. The geography makes this a choose-your-own-evening proposition, though the programming also rewards commitment to one room and one set. Turner continues at Smoke Jazz Club on Friday, October 2, giving the weekend its clearest recurring anchor.[1][2][3][4]

Turner’s engagement centers on Patternmaster, his 2026 ECM album with trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Jonathan Pinson. The record presents the same chordless lineup heard at Smoke Jazz Club, placing the tenor–trumpet front line over bass and drums with no piano or guitar in the texture. That setup gives Thursday’s 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM sets, followed by Friday’s 6:30 PM set, a specific identity: four musicians extending a shared book and a long-running group language. Smoke lists the performances as dinner shows, so the room’s timing and format are part of the plan as much as the music itself.[1][4]

At Smalls Jazz Club, Ridout’s quartet holds the early slots at 6:00 PM and 7:30 PM, with Yvonne Rogers on piano, Simón Willson on bass, and David Sirkis on drums. The later handoff goes to Davis at 9:00 PM with Julian Shore, Chris Tordini, and Timothy Angulo. The pairing offers two useful points of entry into the Thursday schedule: Ridout’s trumpet-led band occupies the opening stretch, while Davis arrives with a quartet led by a Brooklyn-based composer and saxophonist whose work moves among improvisation, composition, and social inquiry. Smalls’ posted schedules also identify the respective sets and personnel, allowing listeners to choose by hour as well as band.[2][3][5]

Build the night around the clock

For an early start, Smalls Jazz Club opens with Ridout at 6:00 PM; her second set begins at 7:30 PM. Smoke Jazz Club’s Turner sets begin at 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM on Thursday, with the Friday continuation at 6:30 PM. Davis takes Smalls at 9:00 PM. These are close calls for anyone attempting a multi-club route, so treat the evening as a set-by-set decision, arrive early where required, and recheck the official venue pages for current ticket, seating, door, and schedule information before heading out.[1][2][3][6]

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Also this week

Sources

  1. Mark Turner Quartet “Patternmaster” ECM Records Release — Smoke Jazz Club
  2. Alexandra Ridout Quartet — SmallsLIVE
  3. Caroline Davis Quartet — SmallsLIVE
  4. Patternmaster — ECM Records
  5. Story — Caroline Davis
  6. Smoke Jazz Club — Smoke Jazz Club