For most of Jon Krosnick’s career he’s maintained separate realms for business and pleasure.
That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy his work as a Stanford professor and director of the university’s Political Psychology Research Group. But he cuts a very different figure in his other persona as an adroit jazz drummer who’s collaborated with some of the tradition’s finest practitioners.
A regular presence on Bay Area stages with his dynamic trio Charged Particles, Krosnick never sought to bring his very different creative pursuits together. But his upcoming two-week run with pianist Bill O’Connell, a major force on New York City’s Latin jazz scene since the 1970s, blossomed out of a rare career convergence.
Krosnick got to know O’Connell, a prolific recording artist and composer who made his reputation playing with Cuban conga great Mongo Santamaria, when he was asked to put a band together for a party in New York City in 2023. A longtime admirer of O’Connell’s work, he’d seen the pianist perform many times with Puerto Rican flute star Dave Valentin.
“Bill is an endless idea generator when he solos,” said Krosnick, who cold called O’Connell about the gig. After checking out Krosnick’s work online he agreed. To complete the trio the pianist suggested Oakland-reared bassist Lincoln Goines, a top New York accompanist with whom he’s toured and recorded for years.
“Bill sent me two dozen tunes, and I did my homework,” Krosnick said. “When we played that party, I nailed every piece we did. We sounded like a trio immediately.”
The same week, Krosnick was attending a New York City event for Cornell University’s Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. At past receptions for the center a student jazz combo provided music for the pack of pollsters, and Krosnick suggested upping the entertainment game with a band of veteran jazz artists.
“They said, ‘Why don’t you put a band together?’” he recalled, which provided the impetus for Krosnick’s worlds to collide.
Over the next two weeks, the public gets numerous opportunities to weigh in on O’Connell’s Public Opinion Research trio with Krosnick and Goines, starting Aug. 15 at the Hedley Club, offering a sneak peek at the Hotel De Anza’s renovated music room. The run Aug. 19 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. After two shows at Keys Jazz Bistro in North Beach Aug. 20 the trio plays two shows at Meyhouse Palo Alto Aug. 21 and a doubleheader at Meyhouse San Ramon Aug. 22. The Bay Area residency concludes Aug 23 at Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Company.
For O’Connell, the extended trip west is an all-too-rare opportunity to perform in a region he loves but has been absent from for decades. With more than two dozen albums to his credit as a leader, he’s created inspired settings for the most formidable artists in jazz and Latin music, including Cuban reed star Paquito D’Rivera, trumpeter Randy Brecker, Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez, and drummer Billy Hart.
An Oberlin Conservatory-trained composer, he reached a career crossroads in 1977 when he was working with both Mongo Santamaria and trumpeter Chet Baker, whose playing and singing was as brilliant as his personal life was erratic.
“Chet had a tour in Europe and Mongo had a tour up the West Coast,” recalled O’Connell, 72. “People told me to be careful with Chet in terms of going to Europe. I was young and needed more stability, so I went with Mongo. Playing every night with a band that great does something to you.”
He spent two years with the percussion icon, who recorded several of his tunes. It was a relationship that help lift him into New York’s top ranks. In addition to his quarter-century tenure with Valentin, O’Connell was in demand by the heaviest improvisers, including a stint with recently departed tenor sax legend Sonny Rollins.
“Any time you get next to someone as powerful and innovative as Sonny is a blessing,” he said. “One of the greatest things was listening to him play solo. Sonny didn’t need a band. He was also a great guy with a great sense of humor.”
On the Latin front he’s played at a similarly exalted level, such as a run with Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, “one of the greatest bands I’ve ever played with,” O’Connell said. “You’ll hear some of that Apache vibe in what we do. I’m not afraid to throw in some straight-ahead playing in a Latin tune. I’m certainly not a purist.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
BILL O’CONNELL TRIO
When & where: 7 p.m. Aug. 15 at Hedley Club, San Jose; admission TBD; www.instagram.com/thehedleyclub; 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz; $29.14-$31.50, www.kuumbwajazz.org; 7 & 9 p.m. Aug. 20 at Keys Jazz Bistro, San Francisco, $40, keysjazzbistro.com; 5 & 8 p.m. Aug. 21 at Meyhouse, Palo Alto, $38-$48, www.meyhousejazz.com/paloalto; 5 & 8 p.m. Aug. 22 at Meyhouse, San Ramon, $24-$35, www.meyhousejazz.com/sanramon; 5 p.m. Aug. 23 at Piedmont Piano Company, Oakland; $25-$30; piedmontpiano.com