The Analog Jazz Orchestra carries an unusual résumé for a regional big band: its membership runs through the West Point Jazz Knights, and its players have performed with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. The 17-piece ensemble, directed by saxophonist Geoff Vidal, performs at The Falcon in Marlboro on Sunday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m.
About the Show
Formed in 2020, the Analog Jazz Orchestra has built its reputation in the Hudson Valley, appearing at the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival in 2023 alongside saxophonist Joe Lovano. The group draws its membership from active-duty and retired members of the West Point Jazz Knights, rounded out with what the ensemble describes as “the Hudson Valley’s most accomplished jazz musicians, composers and arrangers.” The instrumentation runs to five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, and a rhythm section.
Their program balances classic big band libraries — Count Basie, Thad Jones, Bill Holman — against original compositions and arrangements written by members of the group, performed in what the orchestra calls “an improvisational environment.” That combination is the tell: an ensemble willing to place its own work beside the Basie book is making an argument about where the tradition is still going, not just where it has been.
Vidal’s biography is worth noting separately. He serves as a Master Sergeant in the West Point Band, a position that already marks him as a serious musician, but his jazz credentials predate that appointment. He took first prize at the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival Saxophone Competition and was selected for the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in 2003, historically one of the more reliable early indicators of a meaningful career in jazz.
Venue & Logistics
The Falcon, at 1348 Route 9W in Marlboro, is a 150-seat jazz and blues club in the Hudson Valley, operating Thursday through Sunday and serving as a consistent anchor for live jazz in the region. A 17-piece big band in that room is a different proposition than the same ensemble at a concert hall; the brass section is present in a way that changes the physics of the listening experience. Dining begins at 5:30 p.m.; music at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets
The Analog Jazz Orchestra performs on a donation model, with 100% of proceeds going directly to the performers. No advance ticket price is listed; no reservations are required for this show. Buy tickets