For those still unaware, Best Laid Plans is the new album from composer, arranger, and conductor Jon Schapiro, out May 8, 2026 on Summit Records. The recording features his big band, Schapiro17, performing three original compositions alongside six arrangements of music by Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Scott Joplin, John Coltrane, and Horace Silver.

The ensemble are trumpeters Bryan Davis, Andy Gravish, Eddie Allen, and Noyes Bartholomew; trombonists Alex Jeun, Deborah Weisz, and Andrea Neumann, with Walter Harris (tracks 3–8) and Brandon Moodie (tracks 1, 2, 9) on bass trombone; and reed players Ken Robinson, Nathan Bellott, Paul Carlon, Rob Middleton, and Matt Hong. The rhythm section features pianist Simona Premazzi, guitarist Sebastian Noelle, bassist Bob Sabin, and drummer Jon Wikan.

1. Ugly Chic
2. Chameleon
3. Quicksilver
4. Solace
5. East Broadway Run Down
6. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me
7. Best Laid Plans
8. Moment’s Notice
9. The Uncluttered Mind

Recorded June 23–26, 2025 at Power Station in New York City, and produced by Jamie Begian, engineered and mixed by Fernando Lodeiro, and mastered by Oscar Zambrano, it opens on the funkily grooved Ugly Chic and the more emotively sculpted Chameleon and then we get the organically jammed melodies within Quicksilver, the harmoniously-hued Solace and the upright bass-fed brilliance of East Broadway Run Down.

Along next is the expressively impassioned Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me and that is then in turn backed seamlessly by the affectingly flavored title track Best Laid Plans, before the set then rounds out on the luxuriant Moment’s Notice, coming to a close on the vibrantly enjoyable The Uncluttered Mind.

Schapiro17 has developed as a long-running ensemble with a stable core. Two-thirds of the musicians on Best Laid Plans have been with the band since its beginnings in 2012 and its first performances in 2014, appearing on both previous Summit releases, while six additional players make their first recording with the group here.

Across Best Laid Plans, Schapiro organizes the music around balance. “There’s balance between ensemble work and solo work… between very busy passages and ones with more breathing room,” he says. “You can’t have 70 minutes of chaos, and you can’t have 70 minutes of serenity.” He avoids attaching extra-musical narratives to his compositions. “I almost never work that way,” he says. “I’d rather let the content dictate the story.”

Official Purchase Link

www.schapiro17.com