Phil Lentz, Richard Philbin and the New York Jazz Workshops Behind Bebopping Along
A Piano and Saxophone Bebop Single From a Pianist Who Plays New York’s Jazz Workshops
A piano and a saxophone carry Bebopping Along, a single by the New York jazz pianist and composer Phil Lentz. It runs just under two and a half minutes. The saxophonist Richard Philbin is credited alongside him. Released in November 2024, it draws on the bebop tradition that the city’s clubs and jazz workshops keep in circulation. That circuit is also where Lentz plays.
Phil Lentz’s piano and saxophone side is in the playlist below, and his coverage across our desks is gathered on his artist profile. Bebopping Along reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Put it on, then keep reading.
Phil Lentz Plays Jazz Workshops and Club Stages Across New York, From Greenwich Village to Midtown
New York has a working jazz circuit that sits below the festival headliners. It runs on workshops and jam sessions. Pianists, horn players and singers sit in, swap standards and try out new material in front of a room. Lentz describes his place in it plainly. His YouTube channel says he performs in jazz workshops at numerous venues in the city.
The rooms also have names. For example, his band has played The Bitter End on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. His website points readers to videos of that performance. Then, in November 2025, he played piano at The Iridium in Midtown for the singer Paula Newman’s show Broadway + Beyond.
That circuit has had a lift in recent years. Younger pianists such as Emmet Cohen have brought swing and bebop back to a wide audience. Much of that happened through live sessions streamed from a Harlem apartment. The music Lentz writes belongs to that same conversation, although at a smaller scale.
Lentz came to the piano bench after earlier careers in journalism, fiction and speechwriting. As a result, his tunes are short. Nine of the eleven tracks on his 2024 album run under three minutes.
Where Bebopping Along Sits in New York Jazz, With Richard Philbin’s Saxophone Out Front
Bebopping Along is the opening track of Phil Lentz Presents… Vol. II, an eleven-track album from November 2024. Across that record, the ensemble includes Dennis Harte on guitar and Bob Cohen on violin. Red Heller adds vocals and alto saxophone, and Philbin plays saxophone. On this track, the saxophone carries the lead line.
Philbin’s part in the catalogue is also larger than one single. He is credited on December Song and Coda from the same album. On Lentz’s Spotify page, December Song now sits first in the Popular list, with Bebopping Along second. So the two most-played tracks both carry Philbin’s saxophone.
Overall, the writing stays close to its source. The melody moves at a brisk bebop pace, and the rhythm section keeps the pulse light. The whole performance ends before it outstays its welcome. In other words, it is the kind of tune a band might call at a workshop.
Meanwhile, the catalogue keeps growing. In April 2026, Lentz followed the album with a third record of original music. MuzicNotez reviewed it in September as perhaps his most varied release yet.
The Adjacent Acts Around Phil Lentz, From Harlem’s Swing Revival to Jazz Pop Piano
Two better-known pianists also help place the track. Emmet Cohen leads the current wave of straight-ahead swing in New York. Listeners who follow his sessions will therefore recognise the bebop vocabulary at work here.
Harry Connick Jr. offers the other half of the picture. Since the late 1980s, he has carried swing piano into the pop charts. That crossover is the space Lentz aims for. It combines jazz structure, pop length and a tune a casual listener can follow on first play.
So the track suits two kinds of listener. First, jazz fans will recognise the bebop language. Pop listeners who rarely play jazz, by contrast, will find a short, bright tune with a saxophone hook. That is often how a first jazz record finds its way into a playlist.
From the AcousticMusic.News Curator Team: “Bebopping Along puts Richard Philbin’s saxophone out front over Phil Lentz’s piano. It also keeps the whole performance under two and a half minutes. That economy is what a good club set sounds like, captured on record.”
Where to Hear Bebopping Along and Follow the Jazz Pianist Phil Lentz Online
Stream Phil Lentz Presents… Vol. II on Spotify or buy it on Bandcamp, and find Bebopping Along on Apple Music.
Follow Phil Lentz on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, and visit his official website.
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