Performance at the Veblen Birthday Bash--Saturday, July 25

The Sustainable Jazz Duo will perform July 25 (raindate July 26) outdoors at Herrontown Woods as part of an annual celebration of the birthdays of Oswald and Elizabeth Veblen, original donors of the first nature preserve in Princeton. The event runs from 4-8pm. Our all-original jazz and latin, featuring Steve Hiltner on sax/clarinet and the totally orrsome Phil Orr on keyboards, will commence at 5pm. Bring a picnic if you want, and enjoy the tranquil Veblen House grounds. Park at 600 Snowden Lane or 452 Herrontown Road in Princeton, NJ. 

This year's celebration is extra special because it includes the unveiling of the extraordinary Hope's Community Collage, which turns the community's love for Herrontown Woods into a work of collective art.

More info below, from the website of the event's sponsor, the Friends of Herrontown Woods.

"Three years in the making, the opening celebration of Hope’s Community Collage is a thank you to all the artists — visitors, long-time devotees, and workshop attendees alike — who contributed their unique creative pieces to become one community artwork. The collage began as Hope’s project to support the Veblen House renovation and has grown into a shared expression of this community’s creativity. The waterproof piece will be on display on the Veblen House “Outside Gallery” walls for all to admire that pass through our woods. Join us for refreshments, live music, and the chance to make old and new friends. Everyone is welcome — bring the whole family. Thank you for being part of the FOHW community. Rain date: July 26, 2026."

A Recording Session with Francophone Vocalist Eva Madeleine Martin

It was a joy to record recently with francophone vocalist Eva Madeleine Martin, who has been developing her vocal talents and repertoire with notable vocal mentor Trineice Robinson and our Sustainable Jazz pianist Phil Orr.

We recorded arrangements of Oui, Oui, Oui, Oui, LOVE, Le Petite Fleur, If I Were a Bell, and a couple others, with lyrics in French or english or both. Something about Eva's singing just makes me feel happy. 

California Tour--June, 2026

I began composing in 1983 after joining a composers' workshop in Ann Arbor, MI that evolved into the Lunar Octet. The group, whose all-original repertoire overlaps with that of Sustainable Jazz, still performs, most recently during a ten-day tour in the Bay area of California.

We performed at Mr. Tipples Jazz Club in downtown San Francisco, at the SacYard in Sacramento, and other venues in the area. For these tours, there's a convergence of the core group--conguero Aron Kaufman from Ann Arbor, bassist Jeff Dalton from the Florida Keys, myself from NJ, and drummer/host Jon Krosnick--joined by top-notch players from the Bay area. 

For this tour we were joined by saxophonist Tod Dickow, trumpeter Chris Aschman, and pianist Greg Sankovich. Guitarist Barry Finnerty, who has recorded with Miles Davis and other greats, joined us for a gig.

Our 2025 tour yielded a live recording planned for release later this year. The Lunar Octet website documents 43 years of all-original music making.

Sustainable Jazz to Perform at the DR Greenway's 2026 Gala

Our Sustainable Jazz duo returns to the Johnson Education Center to perform for the DR Greenway Gala, Sunday, May 31, 4-6pm. Support this great organization and hear our original latin and jazz on the beautiful grounds of the DR Greenway headquarters on the west side of Princeton. More info at the link.

Celebrating their 20th year, the DR Greenway has preserved more than 20,000 acres of land in our region!

May 8 Free Performance at West Windsor Senior Center, 1-2pm

This Friday, May 8, Phil and I journey across the Stonybrook to perform our all-original latin and jazz at the West Windsor Senior Center. All welcome. 1-2pm, 271 Clarksville Rd, West Windsor Township, NJ

This is my second time presenting at the Senior Center this year. Back in March, around Einstein's birthday, they hosted a talk historian Cindy Srnka and I developed entitled "How Oswald Veblen Quietly Created Einstein's Princeton."

Sustainable Jazz Performs for a HIP Fundraiser

Sustainable Jazz, with Steve Hiltner on reeds and Phil Orr on keyboard, performed again this year for the Annual Spring Gathering of Housing Initiative of Princeton.

With our mix of original music and jazz standards, we sought to live up to the organization's fortuitous acronym: HIP.

This spirited and effective organization's mission is to "Assist local individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity build toward a sustainable future via stable housing, better employment, and a network of support services."

Introducing Singer Eva Martin--Chanteuse Extraordinaire

What a treat to be part of Le Jazz Fun in the debut performance by Eva Martin, an academic turned French teacher and singer. Eva has a gorgeous voice that's been waiting patiently through her other careers for the time and training needed to bloom.  

That training began when her brother, jazz guitarist Alex Martin, recommended a top flight voice coach:  Dr. Trineice, aka Trineice Robinson-Martin, formerly on the faculty of the Princeton University jazz program and now at Berklee College of Music. Trineice in turn recommended pianist and composer Phil Orr--my close musical collaborator--to be Eva's pianist, helping her expand and arrange her repertoire. 

As Eva tells it, she had always wanted to be a singer, and in fact sat in at a Paris jazz club earlier in her life. The band members encouraged her to continue, but she claims to have had only five notes she could sing. That, along with skepticism about the chances of sustaining herself with music, caused her to pursue instead an academic career. During this time, raising a family, her kids were the ones who got the benefit of her singing. Having achieved what she wanted in academia--a dissertation, a PhD, a book--she shifted to teaching in order to stay in the Princeton area. In 2025, she made a New Year's resolution that proved to be transformative: “Sing for 10 minutes a day. Just for joy.” That precipitated the sequence of events and mentoring that led to her vocal debut. 

With Kai Gibson on bass, Logan Bogdan on drums, and myself on sax and clarinet, we were the opening act at the April 11 Francophone Festival on Hinds Plaza. 

Here's a link to a video of the performance. 

By coincidence, I had played jazz with Eva's brother Alex in Durham, NC 25 years ago. Alex came up from his home base in Washington, DC to be part of the FrancoFest performance.

Performance at Salon 33, Saturday, March 14, 8-10pm

Salon 33 is a great venue for hearing live music in West Windsor, and pianist Phil Orr and I will be there this coming Saturday, March 14. No cover--this is a donation-based event. There's an optional potluck at 7, followed by two sets of our all-original jazz and latin music starting at 8pm. RSVP is required. To get directions and more info, register at this link.

We're a duo, but Salon 33's fabulous grand piano is like a third presence on the stage. (The fig tree in the background is what happens when Phil sits down with Photoshop.)

Upcoming Performances -- 2026

From coast to coast, we're gearing up for another year of all-original adventures in jazz, latin, funk, and tango.

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2-3pm Mount Laurel Library -- We're excited to be part of this excellent series of Sunday jazz concerts. 

Saturday, March 14, 8-10 Salon 33, West Windsor - a great community of music lovers; potluck at 7pm; contact us for more info 

Sunday, May 3, 4-7 HIP Spring Gathering - a good cause and good music at this fundraiser for the Housing Initiative of Princeton, which helps local families who are housing insecure

Friday, May 8, 1pm West Windsor Senior Center - lots of cultural happenings at this community center, including a talk I'll be giving March 20, 1pm, related to Einstein's birthday

June 24 - July 1, California tour with the Lunar Octet

Oct. 11--RSVP to Hear Sustainable Jazz at the Caldwell Sessions

Come Saturday, October 11, to hear Steve Hiltner and Phil Orr perform at the Caldwell Sessions in Princeton. The Caldwell Sessions provides a comfortable house concert setting to hear our all-original melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango.  

When: Saturday, October 11

Doors open: 7:00 PM, 

Show starts: 7:30 PM

Suggested Donation for the Artist: $25 cash or Venmo at the door

 

RSVP to reserve a seat! 

Email caldwell.sessions@gmail.com 

California Tour 2025

This summer, we had two tours with the Lunar Octet, the jazz/latin band I've been a part of since its beginnings 42 years ago. I write most of the music for the group, much of which I composed in New Jersey and perform locally with pianist Phil Orr in our Sustainable Jazz duo. 

Additional compositions for the Octet come from our conguero, Aron Kaufman. Occasionally we pull out a beautiful ballad by drummer Jon Krosnick. Though based in Ann Arbor, the Lunar Octet also has a California version. Jon, a Stanford professor who periodically performs with renowned trumpeter Randy Brecker, booked our Lunar Octet for 8 gigs in 5 days this past June.

The final gig was in a central plaza in Sonoma, with our all-original music drifting out to a thousand people enjoying a beautiful afternoon.

Other gigs were at the Las Positas Vineyard and a brewery named the SacYard.

It's always a good feeling to play amidst the stacks at libraries, many of which have beautiful central spaces for the community to gather.

One highlight was playing as a sextet at Mr. Tipples Jazz Club in downtown San Francisco. 

To play these tours, members of the band converge from all over the country. Bassist Jeff Dalton flies in from the Florida Keys, conguero Aron Kaufman travels from Michigan. To fill out the band, drummer Jon Krosnick recruited his fabulous California-based colleagues, with Murray Low on keyboard, Tod Dickow on tenor sax, and new addition Chris Aschman lighting up the stage with his trumpet playing.

Michigan Tour, July 2025

This past July, our Lunar Octet toured for two weeks in Michigan, performing our all-original latin and jazz at gigs ranging from Ann Arbor up to Traverse City.

One of the first gigs was at our favorite jazz club, the Blue Llama down on Main Street in Ann Arbor. Such a special place to play, with stellar performances from the Michigan contingent of the band: Zen Zadravec on piano, multi-instrumentalist Paul Vornhagen, Tim Blackmon on trumpet, Olman Piedra on percussion, guitarist Sam Clark, and conguero Aron Kaufman.

A few gigs later we were up in the beautiful Traverse City area as a quintet, casting our original latin and jazz out across a picnic area at St. Ambrose Cellars. Jon Krosnick leads the group from behind the drums, and Jeff Dalton provides steady, melodic underpinning for the grooves, and virtuosic bass solos. 

A library in Hamburg seemed disconnected from any downtown, and yet serves as a vibrant community center for many in the vicinity. During one of our sets, a thunder storm blew through with high winds and pelting rain, adding a dramatic visual backdrop.

Our final stop was Rancho Tranquilico, a concert series hosted by farmer and open space preservationist Barry Lonik, with a late evening light show provided by the fireflies. 

 

Until I Find the Words at St. Mary Church

The quieter side of the Sustainable Jazz Duo, in a performance at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Church in South Amboy. The original tango-influenced composition, Until I Find the Words, is the title track of our CD. The tune actually has words, which begin with:

"Until I find the words, I'll sing this melody, this simple melody, to tell you of my love."

Performing at HIP's Spring Gathering

Our Sustainable Jazz Duo will perform this Sunday, May 4, at the Housing Initiatives of Princeton's Spring Gathering, a fundraiser for this great local organization. Their mission? 

To assist local individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity build toward a sustainable future via stable housing, better employment, and a network of support services.

Our mission is to live up to their organization's very cool acronym -- HIP! 

Frolic at St. Mary's

I had asked whether it was okay to dance inside the St. Mary, Star of the Sea Church where Phil Orr and I performed our original jazz and latin music. The answer was affirmative, so we played Frolic--a tune that gets people dancing even if they remain sitting down, as the girl on the front left frolicfully demonstrates. Thanks to Jody and St. Mary's for being such wonderful hosts.  

RSVP for Sustainable Jazz at Salon 33 this Saturday, April 12

Come this Saturday, April 12, to hear Phil and me perform at Salon 33 in West Windsor. 

This is a great venue for hearing our all-original melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango.  There's an optional potluck at 7pm. Music runs from 8-10pm. 

To obtain more info and get the address, you have to RSVP at this link, and make sure to mark that you're going to the Saturday show.

Salon 33 is donation-based, with a suggested donation of $20. 

Performance March 23 in South Amboy

Our Sustainable Jazz duo with the totally orrsome Phil Orr on piano will be heading this Sunday to South Amboy to perform a sampling of our melodic adventures in samba, swing, and tango in the Music at St. Mary's series. The performance runs from 4-5pm, at 256 Augusta Street. All-original compositions in a church setting, with piano and sax/clarinet.

Greening the Blues - A Sustainable Jazz Duo Video

Such a pleasure to perform at the Princeton Public Library community room for a Sunday afternoon audience. Phil Orr on piano, and myself, Steve Hiltner, on alto sax and clarinet, playing all original jazz, sambas, and a tango.

Below is a video of us performing one of my compositions, Greening the Blues. 

 

Sustainable Jazz Duo Plays the Princeton Public Library - Dec. 8, 3pm

It's happenin'! The orrsome Phil Orr and I will be performing at the totally awesome Princeton Public Library, Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3pm in the community room. 

We'll be serving up fresh, original melodies made buoyant by Phil's grooves in styles ranging from samba to swing, tango to funk. We tend to make it fun and engaging. 

Some of the compositions take you on a journey, like Climbing the Mountain, and Caged Bird Swings, which starts with a caged musical theme and gradually sets it free.

Upcoming Performances

The Michigan-based Lunar Octet and the NJ-based Sustainable Jazz Duo both feature my jazz and latin compositions.

Mark your calendars:

2024

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 7-10pm - the Lunar Octet plays the Blue Llama Jazz Club, Ann Arbor, MI

Sunday, Dec. 8, 3-4pm, Sustainable Jazz Duo at the Princeton Public Library

2025

Jan. 16, Aretha's in Detroit, MI with the Lunar Octet

March 8-15, a week of Lunar Octet performances in Michigan

Saturday, April 12, Sustainable Jazz Duo at Salon 33 in West Windsor, 7pm. More info closer to the date.