*‘A Blue Time’ releases everywhere 4/24/26 on Circle 9 Records (C90016)*

**Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet follows 2025’s chart-topping ‘Secret Message’ with A Blue Time,
out April 26, 2026 via Circle 9 Records**

The veteran drummer’s “little big band” reworks standards, Latin repertoire, and songs from outside the jazz canon, jazzing up rock tunes and making jazz tunes rock

Drummer and bandleader Joe Syrian returns with his Motor City Jazz Octet on A Blue Time, out April 24 via Circle 9 Records — a follow-up to 2025’s Secret Message. The album includes Duke Jordan’s “Jordu,” Tadd Dameron’s “A Blue Time,” Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Agua de Beber,” Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa,” the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood,” and Peter Green’s “Black Magic Woman.” As Syrian puts it, “we deviated a lot, taking some rock tunes and making them jazzy, and taking some jazz tunes and making them a little rockier.”

“I like to think with 10 brains, not one,” Syrian says. “I don’t dominate, I listen and encourage. It’s really a give and take.” The lineup — pianist Adam Birnbaum, guitarist Paul Bollenback, trombonist Doug Beavers, alto and baritone saxophonist Carl Maraghi, tenor saxophonists Tim Ries and Dave Riekenberg, who also plays bass clarinet, and trumpeter and flugelhornist Nick Marchionne — includes bass duties split between Lorin Cohen and Boris Kozlov, with appearances from vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan and percussionist Luisito Quintero. Beavers produced the album, with arrangements by Beavers, Birnbaum, John Fedchock, Brian Stark, Rich DeRosa, and David O’Rourke.

Pre-Order LP & CD

“Every guy in this band could be the leader,” Syrian says. “Being a leader, you just bring the pencils to the rehearsal or something. These guys lead themselves.” The solos carry the music. “The solos, they’re more important than anything else. Jazz is built around improv, and these guys just take it to the next level.”

Recorded across two sessions — May 16–19, 2023 at Trading 8s Studios in New Jersey and October 20–22, 2025 at Studio Mozart — A Blue Time draws from both periods, combining selections carried over from the first session with material added during the second. Syrian shaped the program for contrast. “We had a lot of tunes, you don’t want 10 bossas or something,” he says. “So we just kind of balanced it.” “Besides the music, we had a lot of fun, we ate some nice meals together, spent a lot of time, just developed some deeper friendship.”

The album opens with “Jordu,” which Syrian describes as “in a very, very standard way, just kind of establishing ourselves as jazz players.” Jobim’s “Agua de Beber,” usually heard as a bossa nova, is recast with a different feel. “We made it a rock tune, with a general rock beat.” “Teach Me Tonight” features Lucy Yeghiazaryan, who, Syrian says, “just walks in and belts it out, tremendous spunk and confidence.”

Adam Birnbaum’s arrangement of “Norwegian Wood” keeps the original 3/4 structure while reshaping its contours. “We took a rock tune and made it a jazz tune, still in three-four time, but a much different feel,” Syrian says. “A lot of the Beatles tunes, their framework lets you go in a lot of different directions.”

“Black Magic Woman” comes from a chart Syrian had been hanging onto for decades. “I had this thing for 20 years,” he says. “We were just about done, and we pulled it out.” The arrangement, by Brian Stark, centers on Paul Bollenback’s electric guitar. “I would really like to see people’s faces when that starts, when the first guitar stroke comes in.”

On “Charade,” arranged by Rich DeRosa, the setup changes. “He wrote a tom-tom background drum part, so I had a whole lot of tom-toms I don’t usually play,” Syrian says. The result is, in his words, “very pretty, very beautiful.” Dorham’s “Blue Bossa” stays close to its lineage. “It’s more of a samba, which is how it’s usually played.”

Fedchock’s arrangement of “Nature Boy” introduces what Syrian describes as “kind of an Afro-Cuban drum rhythm,” lifting the tune from its usual ballad setting. “Sway” features a trombone solo from Beavers. “A lot of the Latin stuff is the same, only different,” Syrian says. “The rhythms kind of blur.”

Closing track “A Blue Time,” arranged by David O’Rourke, brings it back to straight-ahead playing. “It just kind of takes us home to jazz, to easy swinging playing,” Syrian says.

For Syrian, it comes down to the people. “These are the best musicians, they really play great,” he says. “There’s none better. There’s others, but not anyone better. These guys are right up there, just first-rate music, good writing, good playing, and good people.”

*Joe Syrian - Dearborn, MI*
*©2025 Joesph Syrian*

Production Credits

Recorded May 16-19, 2023 at Trading 8s Studios, NJ, USA, engineered by Chris Sullit (Tracks 1, 5, 7, 8 & 10)
Recorded October 20-22, 2025 at Studio Mozart, NJ, USA, engineered by Kostadin Kamcev (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 9)

Mixed and mastered March 2026 by David Darlington at Bass Hit Recording, NYC

Vinyl mastered March 2026 by Doug Beavers at Circle 9 Studio, Jersey City NJ

Cover photography by Stein Egil Liland

Additional landscape photography by Loren Fisher

Session photography by Doug Beavers

Liner Notes by Michael Ambrosino
Graphic design by Chad McCullough

Produced by Doug Beavers
Executive Producer: Joseph Syrian

Tracklist

1 Jordu - Duke Jordan, arr. John Fedchock 05:09

2 Agua de Beber - Antonio Carlos Jobim, arr. Brian Stark 05:21

3 Teach Me Tonight (feat. Lucy Yeghiazaryan) - Gene de Paul, arr. Doug Beavers 04:08

4 Norwegian Wood - Lennon-McCartney, arr. Adam Birnbaum 05:26

5 Black Magic Woman (feat. Paul Bollenback) - Peter Green, arr. Brian Stark 05:15

6 Charade - Henry Mancini, arr. Rich DeRosa 05:17

7 Blue Bossa - Kenny Dorham, arr. Adam Birnbaum 05:35

8 Nature Boy - Eden Ahbez, arr. John Fedchock 05:09

9 Sway - Pablo Beltrán Ruiz, L. Demetrio & N. Gimbel, arr. Rich DeRosa 04:59

10 A Blue Time - Tadd Dameron, arr. David O’Rourke 04:44

Personnel

Joe Syrian - drums, leader

Adam Birnbaum - piano

Paul Bollenback - acoustic and electric guitars, banjo (4)

Lorin Cohen - acoustic and electric bass (1, 5, 7, 8, 10)

Boris Kozlov - acoustic and electric bass (2-4, 6, 9)

Carl Maraghi - alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet (6, 10)

Tim Ries - tenor saxophone (8, 10)

Dave Riekenberg - tenor saxophone (1-7, 9) bass clarinet (6)

Nick Marchione - trumpet, flugelhorn

Doug Beavers - trombone

Special Guests:

Lucy Yeghiazaryan - lead vocal (3)

Luisito Quintero - percussion (5)

*‘Secret Message’ releases everywhere 11/15/24 on Circle 9 Records (C90009)*

Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet’s Secret Message
Out Now

A refreshing, classics-oriented offering by the veteran drummer’s trusty “little big band” — featuring standards from “Bye, Bye Blackbird” to the Beatles — out now via Circle 9

Jazz isn’t just on the ground floor of American popular music; it’s essential to its continued evolution. Even as its mainstream cachet declined, the eclectic AOR greats of the 20th century, like the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Earth Wind & Fire, and Tower of Power, imbued their music with jazz’s values: advanced harmonies, sophisticated rhythms, and open frameworks. Jazz answered with hip, sophisticated arrangements of pop tunes.

Joe Syrian, the veteran drummer and leader of the Motor City Jazz Octet, understands this dialogue — and their new album, Secret Message, out November 15 via Circle 9 Records — is an effervescent toast to elite popular music in all its forms, from standards like Ray Henderson’s “Bye, Bye Blackbird” and Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” to pop/rock classics like the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere,” Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade.” and Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing.”

“...the octet ... is sharp and well-grounded on every number, ...every solo is strong and engaging. The rhythm section, anchored by drummer Joe Syrian, does its part to enliven the party... Syrian is especially impressive thumping the tom toms on a Latin-flavored version of “All or Nothing At All””

— All About Jazz

“Popular music resonates with people and works for many audiences,” Syrian says simply. “We just take that and mold it to our unique framework.” And he has the best men for the job in pianist Adam Birnbaum, guitarist Paul Bollenback, acoustic and electric bassist Lorin Cohen, trombonist Doug Beavers, alto and baritone saxophonist Carl Maraghi, and trumpeter and flugelhornist Nick Marchionne. (Tenor saxophonist Tim Reis, and tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist Dave Reickeenberg, each appear on a handful of tracks.) Along with Birnbaum and Beavers, Dave Hanson, John Fedchock, David Caffey, and David Berger demonstrate their impressive arrangement acumen.

“Real fun, with an emphasis on mellow hipness.” “Here’s a band that takes you back to the soul-jazz days...”

— Jazz Weekly

“It’s kind of a little big band, having eight guys. Everyone is more exposed musically,” Syrian says of the Motor City Jazz Octet, a rotating lineup of players not only from Detroit, but now all over the country. “But there are enough instruments there to really make good music, beyond just good solos. When everyone’s playing together, it feels like a large band. So as a musical concept, I just love the size of it.”

For Secret Message, Syrian programmed “common tunes that most people would know — but with our musical twist to it.” The disc kicks off with a medium-swinging, Hanson-arranged “Bye, Bye Blackbird,” — famously performed by everyone from Miles Davis to Peggy Lee and Joe Cocker — with outstanding solos by Birnbaum, Bollenback, Maraghi, and Marchionne. This leads into Gene de Paul and Don Raye’s “Star Eyes,” oscillating between a Birdland-like meter and swing and featuring an excitable arrangement by Fedchock.

Thom Bell and Linda Creed wrote “People Make the World Go Round,” and Philly soul legends the Stylistics first recorded it in 1971. Syrian and the Motor City Octet’s ebullient version, arranged by Beavers, enlists further talents in vocalist Kenny Washington, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and percussionist Luisito Quintero.

After a Latin-tinged ride through Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” — a tip of the hat to Detroit, where Wonder grew up — Birnbaum turns in this stellar arrangement of “Here, There and Everywhere,” Paul McCartney’s magnificent love ballad from the Beatles’ Revolver. Caffey gives Russell’s “This Masquerade” a similarly unexpected yet winning lilt.

Secret Message concludes with two standards: “Night and Day” — another Berger arrangement — and Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston, and Sammy Cahn’s “I Should Care,” arranged by Fedchock. Both are uptempo, electrifying, and indicative of these songs’ durability and perenniality. Not to mention the power of the Motor City Jazz Octet — that “little big band” that could.

“It was just everybody standing on everybody else’s shoulders,” Syrian says of the joyous Secret Message recording session, with a hint of awe. “I just can’t say enough about these guys. This is the biggest thing for me right now.” From “the D” to the world over: message received. — Morgan Enos

Secret Message releases November 15 on Circle 9 Records.

STREAM NOW