Ted Rosenthal - The Good Old Days

GA Russell · 2026-03-08T03:29:22Z

Ted Rosenthal

Caps His 4-Part Piano Trio Cycle

With "The Good Old Days,"

Set for May 1 Release

On TMR Music

Pianist Highlights Prewar Jazz Stylings in Trios with

Bassists Noriko Ueda / Martin Wind &

Drummers Tim Horner / Quincy Davis,

Plus Special Guest Ken Peplowski

March 6, 2026

Ted Rosenthal offers up yet another side of his rich, expansive approach to the jazz piano with the May 1 CD release of The Good Old Days (TMR Music). The capstone of Rosenthal’s monumental tetralogy Trios in 4 Acts, it finds him leading his two longtime trios in putting a contemporary twist on early jazz styles. The album also features joyful cameos on two tracks by the late, great clarinetist Ken Peplowski.

Recorded in summer 2024, the Trios in 4 Acts series allowed Rosenthal to offer multiple moods, tempos, and conceptual through-lines to the listener, all filtered through his beloved piano-trio format. “I believe a good, well thought out program, often with a theme, adds so much for the listener,” the pianist notes. Each entry in the tetralogy—which also includes 2025’s High Standards, The Ted Rosenthal Songbook, and Classics Reimagined: Impromp2—also happens to provide a unique insight on Rosenthal’s own artistry.

In the case of The Good Old Days, it’s his deep knowledge of the music’s history and nuances. That understanding allows Rosenthal to, for example, present his original ragtime composition “Schmatta Rag,” here done with both stride-piano panache and a nod to New Orleans blues, as well as to put his own zesty spin on Scott Joplin’s tentpole “Maple Leaf Rag.” Another original, the swinger “Back Home in Okayama,” offers the brand of breezy escapism and Tin-Pan-Alley lyricism that marked jazz in those pre-World War II days—which, as Rosenthal slyly reminds us with a quote of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop” in his “Back Home in Okayama,” informs the music that’s come after.

Elsewhere are lively and personal renditions of pieces by Cole Porter (“From This Moment On”), Hoagy Carmichael (“Two Sleepy People”), and Vernon Duke (“Autumn in New York”), all given renewed life and energy thanks to Rosenthal and his trio’s fresh perspectives. While Peplowski was renowned for his expertise in pre-bop repertoire, here he brings his timeless feeling and verve to two vibrant Rosenthal originals, the calypso-flavored “Sunny Side Up” and the Charleston-accented “Hot Sauce.”

Importantly, The Good Old Days is neither a nostalgia fling nor a history lesson. It demonstrates Rosenthal’s full immersion in the jazz tradition, but it’s less a throwback to a bygone era than a reminder of how vital and inspiring that classic music remains in Rosenthal’s hands.

Ted Rosenthal was born in 1959, in Great Neck, Long Island, New York. He first tried his hand at piano at age six, then pursued guitar and trumpet before coming back to the keys at 12 when he began lessons with journeyman pianist Tony Aless. From there, he moved on to such illustrious mentors as Lennie Tristano, Jaki Byard, and Billy Taylor before going on to earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Manhattan School of Music.

Rosenthal made his name in the wider jazz world in 1988, when he won the second annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. This led to his first recording as a leader, New Tunes, New Traditions, featuring Ron Carter and Billy Higgins. Shortly afterward, Rosenthal joined saxophone great Gerry Mulligan for his last quartet (and served as musical director of the Gerry Mulligan All-Star Tribute Band after Mulligan’s 1996 passing).

In the meantime, Rosenthal was freelancing as a sideman with several jazz greats—Art Farmer, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among others—and has performed with many top vocalists including Kurt Elling and Ann Hampton Callaway. He is currently on the faculties at both The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. Rosenthal has also built up a fearsome body of his own work, recording more than a dozen follow-up jazz recordings after his debut, including the chart-topping Rhapsody in Gershwin, the critically acclaimed Images of Monk, and an album in the prestigious “Live at Maybeck Hall” solo piano series. The first release in his Trios in 4 Acts series, High Standards, has been on the JazzWeek radio charts for 15 consecutive weeks.

He’s also done considerable work in bringing together the classical and jazz traditions, having composed a jazz opera (“Dear Erich”), two jazz piano concertos, and ballet music. He fused his classical flair with jazz on Classics Reimagined: Impromp2, the third installment of his recording series, Trios in 4 Acts, and included music from “Dear Erich” on the second, The Ted Rosenthal Songbook. Encompassing the breadth of jazz history, The Good Old Days is the ambitious tetralogy’s capstone.

Upcoming performances include: 3/12-22 Jazzfest at Sea; 4/12-21 Tour of Germany; 4/24-26 Shablul Jazz Club, Tel Aviv; 5/1 Side Door, Old Lyme, CT; 5/8-9 Mezzrow, NYC (6:00 & 7:30pm); 5/22-23 Jazz Forum, Tarrytown, NY (Quartet featuring Terell Stafford; 7:00 & 9:30pm); 6/4-6 Vic’s Supper Club, Las Vegas; 7/26 Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA (100 Years of Miles and Coltrane w/ Ingrid Jensen, Jimmy Greene, Noriko Ueda, Dennis Mackrel).