Pianist Paul Cornish to Release New Project “You’re Exaggerating!” on Aug. 22nd, 2025 – LISTEN! Announces New Tour for 2025
PIANIST PAUL CORNISH SET TO RELEASE YOU’RE EXAGERRATING!
HIS STUNNING DEBUT ALBUM OUT AUG. 22 ON BLUE NOTE RECORDS
CORNISH ANNOUNCES U.S. & EUROPEAN TOUR DATES INCLUDING
ALBUM RELEASE SHOWS IN NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, LONDON & PARIS
LISTEN TO THE LEAD SINGLE “DINOSAUR SONG” NOW
Pianist Paul Cornish is set to release his stunning debut album, You’re Exaggerating!, which comes out August 22 on Blue Note Records. A powerfully lyrical trio album, the 9-song set of Cornish originals features bassist Joshua Crumbly and drummer Jonathan Pinson with a special guest appearance by guitarist Jeff Parker. You’re Exaggerating! is introduced by the lead single “Dinosaur Song” and is available for pre-order now on Blue Note Store exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital download.
Cornish has also announced an extensive tour schedule that will bring him across the United States and Europe this year including shows in Los Angeles (Jazz Bakery, June 13), New York (Dizzy’s, Aug. 28), London (Ronnie Scott’s, Aug. 25), Paris (Duc des Lombards, Nov. 26), and more. See below for a full list of tour dates and visit paulcornishmusic.com for more details.
Every artist who records for Blue Note is part of a grand legacy, but Cornish—whose profile has elevated of late through his work with Joshua Redman including a head-turning sideman appearance on the saxophonist’s new album Words Fall Short—is a torchbearer for several remarkable Blue Note legacies, all at once. Which makes You’re Exaggerating! a mission statement for Blue Note’s next generation.
Cornish is part of a great heritage of jazz piano that has unfolded at the label, from Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk through Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Geri Allen, Jason Moran, and Robert Glasper, to name just a few. He’s also part of a lineage of Blue Note artists who hail from Houston, Texas, and developed at the city’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a.k.a. HSPVA. That more recent hall of fame includes Moran, Glasper, Walter Smith III, Kendrick Scott, Chris Dave and James Francies. Of course, within that list there’s yet another bloodline, of musicians who’ve come to define jazz pianism in the 21st century: Moran, Glasper, Francies and, now, Cornish, who was born and raised in Houston and has been based in Los Angeles for over a decade.
In many ways, Cornish is the most profound embodiment yet of Blue Note’s regenerative influence — the idea that, like the label’s landmark midcentury recordings, Blue Note LPs of recent vintage have had a seismic impact on jazz’s ever-evolving sound. “Those early Robert Glasper records on Blue Note, like Canvas and In My Element, were my first window into this legacy I’m part of,” says Cornish. “I look at Jason Moran as the catalyst. And Glasper took some of that and added a whole other thing to it, and then James took it even further. With each one of us, it evolves and expands.”
Cornish shares with those players a rare duality, having cultivated a unique identity while also evoking radiant bits and pieces of jazz’s past. The original compositions presented on You’re Exaggerating! were inspired by personal memories, reflections and idols. Cornish’s approach, in its even-keeled texture and shrewd harmony, is a sort of mastery that entices rather than merely impresses. Helmed by a generous, uplifting bandleader, the trio gels into a unified whole with Crumbly’s nimble, assured bass and Pinson’s nuanced, kinetic drumming.
“Continuing the legendary lineage of Houston pianists while still carving out your own lane is not an easy feat,” says Glasper. “Paul is doing just that, giving us a few pages from his personal story. Understanding the history but not being held back by the history is the ongoing struggle of the modern jazz musician. But there is no history without the now.”
Photo Credit: Piper Ferguson
PAUL CORNISH – TOUR DATES:
June 13 – Jazz Bakery – Los Angeles, CA
July 27 – Stanford Jazz Festival – Stanford, CA
Aug. 25 – Ronnie Scott’s – London, England
Aug. 28- Dizzy’s – New York, NY
Aug. 29 – The Side Door – Old Lyme, CT
Aug. 31 – Missy Lane’s Assembly Room – Durham, NC
Sept. 1 – Jazz Coterie @ Great Northern Distilling – Stevens Point, WI
Sept. 2 – Jazz Coterie @ Gerold Opera House – Weyauwega, WI
Sept. 3 – The Promontory – Chicago, IL
Sept. 4 – Caffe Vivace – Cincinnati, OH
Sept. 5 – Bop Stop – Cleveland, OH
Sept. 6 – The Jazz Kitchen – Indianapolis, IN
Sept. 11 – Kuumbwa – Santa Cruz, CA
Sept. 13 – Libretto – Paso Robles, CA
Sept. 17 – The Sun Rose – Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 3 – The Break Room – San Jose, CA
Oct. 4 – Piedmont Piano Company – Oakland, CA
Oct. 9 – Jazz TX – San Antonio, TX
Oct. 10 – Monks Jazz Club – Austin, TX
Nov. 21 – Cotton Club – Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Nov. 22 – Jazz Club Ferrara – Ferrara, Italy
Nov. 23 – La Tenda – Modena, Italy
Nov. 26 – Duc des Lombards – Paris, France
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