For those unaware, Tenor saxophonist and composer Jacob Do will release his debut full-length album, First Chorus, on November 6th, 2026, through Bent River Records.

Rooted in bebop yet shaped by Do’s experience as a young Asian-Canadian jazz musician, the album celebrates the tradition while asking what it means to carry that language forward today.

Following his well-received EP Maybe, Live at the Yardbird Suite, First Chorus brings together musicians who have helped shape Do’s development as mentors, collaborators and trusted friends. The ensemble reunites fellow Montreal expats Donny Kennedy on alto saxophone, André White on piano, Paul Johnston on bass and Dave Laing on drums, with Order of Canada recipient PJ Perry appearing as a special guest.

The album was recorded in one continuous nine-hour session, placing spontaneity and in-the-moment creativity at the center of the music. Do moves between hard-swinging originals, underheard repertoire and familiar standards, balancing carefully shaped compositions with the intuitive interaction of a seasoned band.

His direct, deeply melodic tenor sound reflects a close study of players including Sonny Rollins and Lester Young while retaining a rhythmic drive and point of view all his own.

1. That’s Earl, Brother
2. Flow
3. Stardust
4. La Grande Sortie
5. Hairy Ed
6. Time-Lee
7. All of You (feat. PJ Perry)
8. The Highest Mountain

This richly enthralling, dutifully crafted and soulfully hued new recording opens on the authentically imbibed bebop of Dizzy Gillespie’s 1946 gem That’s Earl, Brother and the delightful fervor of Flow and then we get brought forth his romantically alluring rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust and my own personal favorite here, the magnificent ensemble piece La Grande Sortie.

Along next is the fusion-styled boogaloo of Hairy Ed (itself a salute Eddie Harris) and that is in turn backed seamlessly by the melodiously jagged fare of Time-Lee (a track paying tribute to Lee Konitz), the new set rounding out on the emotively impassioned Cole Porter cut All of You (featuring PJ Perry, known as being one of North America’s premier saxophonists), coming to a close on a wholly resonant, engaging and yet resounding The Highest Mountain.

Recorded in Munich, January 2026 and produced by Manfred Eicher, the new recording opens on the affectingly atmospheric Tukuman and the veritably cinematic in scope El Sur, the willowy fare of Escuchame, the gently joyfully, playful, and yet demure Donde nace el viento, the elegant gossamer of Sine nomine and the quietly free flowing Milonga del Sol, the set rounding out on the rhythmically melodious Ventana, closing on an effortlessly engaging beauty found within Albatros.

The title First Chorus speaks to the many beginnings embedded in jazz: first sets, first takes, first albums, first notes and first phrases. Each offers listeners an initial glimpse of what may follow. For Do, this recording is both an introduction and an invitation – a confident opening statement from a saxophonist committed to jazz history, the community that has sustained him and the possibilities still ahead.

At 27, Do is the inaugural recipient of the Oliver Jones Award and a graduate of McGill University’s jazz performance program. He was also a participant in the 2025 Tribeca Jazz Institute in New York City. On First Chorus, those experiences converge in music that is reverent without being restrained, grounded in lineage but fully engaged with the present.

www.jacobdomusic.com

Jacob Do @ Facebook