| Jazz |
This is the composer’s third album, and once again he manages to upend expectations. He first surprised a wide audience in 2024 with Latin Jazz Session, an album that offered a highly personal vision of Latin music filtered through jazz. In 2025 came Dia Precios, a kind of sequel that expanded on that initial statement. Now, in early 2026, much like a photographer such as Ron Reider shifting lenses and subject matter, the composer changes worlds entirely, presenting a post-bop album that transports the listener straight into the intimate, smoke-filled heart of jazz clubs.
As with his two previous releases, originality here is not the primary ambition. Instead, the approach resembles that of a painter: the goal is not to invent new colors, but to reproduce an atmosphere as faithfully and convincingly as possible. These are sonic landscapes, carefully rendered. The composer has clearly spent countless hours in jazz clubs, absorbing their codes and rituals. Each track becomes a quiet challenge, full of subtle surprises, not through grand gestures or flashy effects, but through refined compositional processes. Everything feels precisely calibrated; nothing spills over the edges. What remains is the pure pleasure of listening to musicians who sound genuinely delighted to inhabit these scores. One piece in particular, “Rainy Day,” stands out for the sophistication of its writing and the elegance of its arrangements.
Listeners who thought they had already pinned down this composer may be genuinely taken aback. And yet, a closer analysis of his debut album reveals that this evolution was always latent. Returning to Latin Jazz Session, one can clearly hear the early seeds of this new work: the club-oriented writing, the arrangements that lean increasingly toward straight-ahead jazz and post-bop intentions. Ron Reider’s inspiration, it becomes evident, is less about adhering to a specific musical style than about channeling an era, a sensibility. The following album, Dia Preciosia, sounds in retrospect like an attempt to close a chapter, to finish a book before moving on. Renewal arrives fully formed with Compositions in Blue and Other Hues.
For that reason, this reviewer would strongly recommend pairing this new album with the very first one, Latin Jazz Session. Together, they form an essential diptych, offering the clearest insight into a composer whose presence on record is far more imposing than it might initially seem.
At first glance, this latest album may appear deceptively classic. In reality, it is extraordinarily complex. Compared to his debut, one senses that the composer has freed himself from rigid forms, allowing for an intensely worked, deeply considered musical substance to emerge. This is not an album to be consumed casually. It demands time, listening and re-listening, revealing intentions that reach well beyond post-bop alone. One cannot help but wonder whether Ron Reider is already thinking about the next album. Given that he now seems to release a new record each year, such speculation feels entirely reasonable. What ultimately impresses most is the sheer breadth of cultural references he is able to engage; all handled with remarkable elegance and restraint.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, January 26th 2026
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Released January 1, 2026
Featuring:
John Lockwood – Bass
Maxim Lubarsky – Piano
Yaure Muniz – Trumpet
Mike Tucker – Tenor Saxophone
Mark Walker – Drums
Track Listing :
Dizzy Spell
I Sing For You
Broadway Boogie
Rainy Day
The Butterfly Waltz
Interlude: Amingus Amonkus
Be Bim Bop
Peach Blossom Blues
Cruising WIth The Top Down
Coco’s Dilema
Java Mania
All songs composed by Ron Rieder, RonaldoMusic (BMI)
All musical Arrangements by Ron Rieder; Java Mania arranged by Ron Rieder and Mike Tucker
Produced by Ron Rieder
Recorded at Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA on December 29 & 30, 2024
Sound Engineer – Joshua Lu at Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA
Mixing – Joshua Lu for Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA
Mastering – Jonathan Wyner at M Works Mastering, Somerville, MA
Art Direction – Rena Sokolow (one2tree.net) Brookline, MA
A Meson Records Production,©2025, All rights reserved