Troy Roberts is the kind of saxophonist critics describe as carrying “the strains of Dexter Gordon” in his delivery — smoky, deliberate, with the weight of the tradition behind each phrase. Chuck Lamb is the pianist Dave Brubeck once called “one of the best improvisers I’ve heard in recent times.” Their Tuesday, September 8 meeting at Caffè Lena is built for exactly the kind of close listening that piano-saxophone dialogue rewards.
About the Show
Lamb hosts the monthly Jazz at Caffè Lena series, a program co-founded with the late producer Joel Moss. His new album, After Hours on Phila Street (2026), takes its name directly from the street the venue sits on — six original acoustic jazz fusion compositions recorded in upstate New York studios, featuring vibraphone player Joe Locke, saxophonist Mike Tucker, and vocalist and co-producer Ria Curley. Lamb dedicated the album to Moss’s memory. The release show at Caffè Lena in August sold out in person.
Lamb’s credentials extend well past the series. He has been the pianist for the Brubeck Brothers Quartet since 2002, performing with the group at Newport Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, Blue Note Tokyo, and Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. Brubeck was direct about it in 2011: “Chuck Lamb is an extremely creative, harmonically interesting, rhythmically exciting pianist and one of the best improvisers I’ve heard in recent times.”
Roberts brings comparable standing from a different corner of the tradition. The Australian-born, New York-based saxophonist and composer is a three-time Grammy-nominated artist who holds three DownBeat Jazz Soloist Awards and has released sixteen albums as a bandleader, among them Green Lights (Toy Robot Music, 2024) with bassist John Patitucci, guitarist Paul Bollenback, and drummer Jimmy Macbride. Glide Magazine described it as “eminently accessible, sonically and rhythmically engaging… emitting steam and sumptuous harmonic colors.” He has also toured and recorded alongside Joey DeFrancesco, Van Morrison, Kurt Elling, and Veronica Swift.
Venue & Logistics
Caffè Lena at 47 Phila St is a fixture of the capital region‘s jazz calendar — a 110-seat listening room where the proximity between performer and audience is part of how the music lands. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show, which runs through 9 p.m. A $5 livestream is available through Caffè Lena TV for those who cannot attend in person; proceeds go directly to the artists.
Tickets
Tickets are $34.70 general admission, $30.37 for Caffè Lena members, and $19.52 for children and students, all fees included. Buy tickets