The New York Times described Joel Harrison’s style as “protean… brilliant,” and the breadth of his career makes that characterization hard to argue: 25 albums as a leader, commissions from Chamber Music America, NYSCA, and the Jerome Foundation, film scores for a Sundance Award winner and an Oscar-nominated documentary, and the Alternative Guitar Summit, an annual festival he founded that has brought Fred Frith, Bill Frisell, and Pat Metheny into the same rooms. His Cosmic Boogie series at Colony Woodstock operates in the warmer, groovier end of that same broad practice.
About the Show
Joel Harrison’s Cosmic Boogie plays Colony’s outdoor garden stage on Friday, September 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. The lineup: Harrison (guitar/lead), Daniel Weiss (keyboards), Ben Zwerin (bass), Kyle Esposito, Josh Dion, and Jerry Marotta (drums/voice).
Marotta arrives with a resume that spans half a century of consequential recording: Peter Gabriel’s drummer from 1977 through 1986, playing on four studio albums including Security and So, and since then on more than 200 albums with Paul McCartney, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Tears for Fears, Sarah McLachlan, and others. He has been Woodstock-based for years and operates Jersville Studios there — the kind of geographical proximity that makes a gathering like this possible. Dion is a singular multi-instrumentalist: a singing drummer who performs vocals, drums, and keyboard simultaneously, co-founder of the duo Paris Monster, and a sideman with John Scofield, The Weight Band, and others.
Harrison is a Guggenheim Fellow (2010) and a two-time winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Competition; he regularly appears on DownBeat’s “Rising Star” poll. The New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote that his work has “created a new blueprint for jazz.” The Cosmic series at Colony has been a recurring part of his 2026 calendar; a Cosmic Roadhouse evening in February featured several of the same core players.
Venue & Logistics
Colony Woodstock, at 22 Rock City Rd, has become a consistent host for Harrison’s ensemble work in the Hudson Valley. Woodstock’s musical ecosystem, dense with working musicians who have planted themselves in the area, means a billing like this one draws from the neighborhood as much as it travels to it. The show runs on the outdoor garden stage; gates open at 5 p.m. Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Tickets
Admission is $20 suggested donation; no refunds. Buy tickets