Saxophonist Paul Carlon to Release New Project “Between Us Three” on July 17th, 2026 | WATCH NEW VIDEO!
Tenor Saxophonist and Composer Paul Carlon Releases
Between Us Three, His Seventh Album as a Leader
The Album Highlights the Intensely Intimate Conversation Between Three Virtuosic Musicians Speaking the Language of Jazz and Afro-Caribbean Music Traditions
Available July 17, 2026 via Truth Revolution Recording Collective
UPDATE July 14th, 2026: Watch Official Video for New Single “Anabacoa” Below!
Triple threat saxophonist/composer/arranger Paul Carlon‘s second trio release, Between Us Three, highlights the intensely intimate conversation between three virtuosic musicians speaking the language of Jazz and Afro-Caribbean music traditions. Featured on congas and percussion is Grammy-nominee Chembo Corniel, and on bass, the masterful Alex “Apolo” Ayala. Both bandleaders, Corniel and Ayala bring deep knowledge, feel, and passion to the music, as well as the desire to amplify their instruments’ respective roles.
Carlon’s absorption of the jazz tenor tradition is on full display through his horn’s deep and soulful tone, his rhythmic adventurousness, and his willingness to expand on the Sonny Rollins-inspired tenor trio. Highlights include the driving original cha cha “Papasito Rides Again”, the epic reimagining of Woody Shaw’s “Katrina Ballerina” over a Cuban abakua rhythm, and Carlon’s tribute to his late sister Meg, the danzón “Baile M.”
Carlon shares his thoughts on the album: “With this second trio album I was focused on the range of what we can do, both material-wise and dynamics-wise. We love to stretch, to really push each other, so I wanted to write songs that were both grounded and yet open enough to give us room to grow into them. These guys are my brothers, so I knew they’d reinvent anything I brought to them.”
Between Us Three features six originals by Carlon, one Latin classic made famous by Arsenio Rodriguez, a standard each by Wayne Shorter and Jimmy Heath, and the aforementioned “Katrina Ballerina.”
The album kicks things off with a blazing “soundcheck” version of “Anabacoa,” evoking the loose and fiery feel of the classic Alegre All Stars recordings, followed by three compositions written specifically for the trio, “That Trio Vibe,” the thunderous guaguancó “Espejos”, and “Papasito Rides Again.” Heath’s “Gingerbread Boy” and an achingly beautiful version of Shorter’s “Infant Eyes” are reimagined through an Afro-Caribbean prism, followed by the album’s title cut “Just Between Us Three,” “Baile M,” and a final blazingly improvisational cha cha, “Un Pedacito de Tí.”
Paul Carlon Trio (L to R): Chembo Corniel, Paul Carlon, Alex “Apolo” Ayala
Photo Credit: Nick Carter
Between Us Three is an innovative improvisational album steeped in Latin traditions and three-way conversations between master musicians at the top of their game.
Between Us Three is Carlon’s seventh album as a leader. Besides his trio’s debut album Tresillo (Deep Tone Records, 2017), Carlon’s other standouts include his octet’s first album Other Tongues (Deep Tone Records, 2005) and his Latin tribute to Billy Strayhorn, La Rumba is a Lovesome Thing (Zoho, 2013). Will Friedwald’s review of the Strayhorn album in The Wall Street Journal stated that “Mr. Carlon’s treatment is the best kind of fresh take on classic material, rendered with a perfect balance of adoration and irreverence that never misses the mark.”
Carlon’s artistic roots run deep; his mother is a visual artist, and his sister was as well. Starting out on the cello in the fourth grade, Carlon was more drawn to the saxophone and switched in the fifth grade. After earning a degree in English Literature from Cornell University, he moved to New York City and immersed himself in the metropolis’ thriving jazz scene, spending many late nights jamming at the legendary Smalls Jazz Club. In the late ‘90s, Carlon began working with two Afro-Cuban jazz groups, Grupo los Santos and Cuban trombonist Juan Pablo Torres’ quintet, as well as bassist Phil Bowler’s Pocket Jungle, composing and arranging for all three groups. In the early 00’s he worked with bassist Harvie S’ Quintet and became the musical director of the Ileana Santamaría Orchestra, and in 2011 he toured with legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. He currently performs and records with many other groups, including Bronx Conexion (a Latin jazz ensemble), Alex Ayala’s Afro Puerto Rican Big Band, Schapiro 17 Jazz Orchestra, his own Quintet, Goussy Célestin’s Ayiti Brass, and Nation Beat, for which he serves as the musical director.
2026 TOUR DATES
Saturday June 6: RiverArts Music Tour/Yonkers NY
RiverArts Music Tour/Yonkers NY
The Paul Carlon Trio
Mirabella Cocina Latina
1 Hamilton St Suite A, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
2-2:40 pm
https://www.mirabellacocina.com/
Thursday June 23
Between Us Three Album Release Event
Riverdale Neighborhood House
Music in the Garden
6:30-8:30 PM
Free & Family Friendly
Riverdale Neighborhood House
5521 Mosholu Avenue Bronx, NY 10471
https://www.riverdaleonline.org/
Thursday July 16: Between Us Three Album Release Concert
Between Us Three Album Release Concert
DROM
85 Ave A (b/w 5th & 6th St) in East Village,
New York, NY 10009
9:30-10:45 p.m.
$25 in advance, $30 at door
212-777-1157 / www.dromNYC.com
For more information on Paul Carlon, please visit:
paulcarlonmusic.com | Facebook | Instagram
DL Media