Jazz pianist Joe Alterman and his trio play groove-heavy, blues-infused takes on Rachmaninoff melodies in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Midtown After Hours jazz series.
Joe Alterman brings a jazz trio to the Goizueta Stage on Friday, January 8, 2027, for a night built around the melodies of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Alterman takes the lead on piano, joined by Justin Chersarek on drums and Kevin Smith on bass. The set puts a jazz spin on Rachmaninoff's classical themes, and it's part of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Midtown After Hours jazz series, which Alterman himself inaugurated at the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families.
It's a familiar move for jazz musicians. Alterman is stepping into a long line of players who've mined classical music for new material—Fred Hersch did it with Red Square Blue, and John Lewis recorded an entire album of pieces from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. The idea is to take a melody you might recognize from the concert hall and let it breathe in a jazz setting.
Alterman is an Atlanta native, born in 1988, and he's built a reputation as a jazz pianist and composer with a groove-heavy, joyful, blues-infused style. He studied at New York University and was mentored by figures like Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis. DownBeat has compared his sound to 1950s masters like Red Garland, Ahmad Jamal and Bill Evans. He's headlined at the Blue Note, Birdland, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center, composed scores for documentary films, and hosts the jazz show The Upside of Jazz on WABE 90.1 FM.
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The concert is at the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families inside the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. It starts at 8 PM on Friday, January 8.
Date
Friday, 8 January 2027
20:00
Recommended Age
+14 years
