When we’ve covered Glenn Crytzer over the years it has usually been to focus on his original material and his full orchestra, but if you’re a Glenn fan living in or visiting NYC, you’re more likely to find him at one of his many regular quintet, quartet, and trio gigs playing from the inexhaustible well of period material. Attending these smaller performances gives you the opportunity to learn and enjoy the individual styles of some of New York’s best players, and these gigs lean more often into trad than the swing our readers might associate with Crytzer. While it’s fun to peek in on these shows on YouTube and get a sense for the room, the sound quality and audience noise can leave something to be desired. Now there’s a new way to take a deep dive into Crytzer’s small-group work.
During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 many musicians turned to online streaming; Crytzer was no exception, but his project had an interesting twist. While some groups assembled remote recordings and others played their kitchens as solo or duo acts, Glenn turned a room into a recording studio and formed a “pod” to record together live and in person. The quartet for these performances included Mike Davis (trumpet), Ricky Alexander (reeds), Ian Hutchison (bass), and Glenn on guitar. On Sundays at 2:30 p.m. they would perform live, followed by a Q&A chat in Zoom with fans—weekly donati
