Joe Farnsworth Big Room Quintet Featuring Eric Alexander

One of the most electrifying drummers in jazz brings an all-star quintet to The Side Door

Joe Farnsworth – Drums

Eric Alexander – Tenor Saxophone

Medjé Owusu – Trumpet

Isaac Byrd – Piano

Peter Washington – Bass

Joe Farnsworth is one of the most highly regarded jazz drummers on the scene today — known for his blazing speed, precision, and deeply melodic playing. Born in South Hadley, Massachusetts into a musical family, Farnsworth studied with legendary educators Alan Dawson and Arthur Taylor before graduating from William Paterson College in New Jersey, where he first began playing alongside saxophonist Eric Alexander. Upon moving to New York City, he quickly became one of the most in-demand drummers on the scene, recording over 100 albums as a leader and sideman and performing with Pharaoh Sanders, Horace Silver, Harold Mabern, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Diana Krall, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Lou Donaldson, Barry Harris, and Curtis Fuller, among many others. He is a founding member of the celebrated One for All Quintet and leads his own Prime Time Band at Dizzy's, Smalls, and Smoke Jazz & Supper Club in New York City.

Joining him as featured soloist is tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander — one of the most celebrated and distinctive voices on the instrument working today. Born in Galesburg, Illinois, Alexander also studied at William Paterson College under Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, and Rufus Reid, and placed second in the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition behind Joshua Redman. Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination deeply rooted in the bebop tradition, Alexander has released over 36 albums as a leader and is a core member of the One for All Quintet.

Together, Farnsworth and Alexander bring a lifetime of musical partnership to The Side Door — joined by an exceptional supporting cast for what promises to be an extraordinary night of straight-ahead jazz.

The Side Door Jazz Club is a dedicated jazz listening room located inside the historic Old Lyme Inn, 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT. Tickets are reserved seating. Guests dining at the Old Lyme Inn prior to the show receive 10% off their dinner bill.