Drummer Joe Syrian Leads Motor City Jazz Octet on New Cross-Genre Album

Joe Syrian held onto the idea of recording "Black Magic Woman" for twenty years before the Motor City Jazz Octet finally cut it. "I had this thing for 20 years," Syrian said. "We were just about done, and we pulled it out." That kind of patience, and the willingness to lead an eight-piece ensemble as its drummer, defines A Blue Time, set for release April 24 via Circle 9 Records.

The album follows 2025's jazz chart-topping Secret Message and pushes Syrian's cross-genre approach further. The set includes interpretations of Duke Jordan's "Jordu," Tadd Dameron's "A Blue Time," Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Agua de Beber," Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa," the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," and Peter Green's "Black Magic Woman." "We deviated a lot, taking some rock tunes and making them jazzy, and taking some jazz tunes and making them a little rockier," Syrian said.

For drummers, the through-line is how Syrian curates and shapes material from the throne. On "Charade," arranged by Rich DeRosa, Syrian explores new rhythmic territory with a tom-tom-driven approach. On "Agua de Beber," Jobim's bossa nova gets recast with a rock pulse, a time-feel choice that lands differently than a traditional samba reading would. Adam Birnbaum's arrangement of "Norwegian Wood" maintains the original 3/4 structure while transforming its feel into something distinctly jazz-forward. "Blue Bossa," by contrast, stays closer to its samba roots. The juxtaposition of those two tracks alone is a short course in how a drummer-bandleader decides, track by track, where to push the time and where to settle.

"Every guy in this band could be the leader," Syrian says. "Being a leader, you just bring the pencils to the rehearsal or something. These guys lead themselves." "I like to think with 10 brains, not one. I don't dominate, I listen and encourage." The recorded lineup bears that out: vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan commands "Teach Me Tonight," while guitarist Paul Bollenback anchors "Black Magic Woman," arranged by Brian Stark. The album closes with the Dameron title track, arranged by David O'Rourke. "It just kind of takes us home to jazz," Syrian says.

A Blue Time was recorded across two sessions, May 16-19, 2023, at Trading 8s Studios in New Jersey, and October 20-22, 2025, at Studio Mozart. Syrian says the goal across both sessions was balance rather than genre consistency. "We had a lot of tunes, you don't want 10 bossas or something. So we just kind of balanced it."

When April 24 arrives, the moments most worth tracking: how Syrian's comping shifts between Yeghiazaryan's vocal on "Teach Me Tonight" and the horn soloists elsewhere; how the tom-tom texture on "Charade" sounds against the samba lilt on "Blue Bossa"; and how "Agua de Beber's" rock pulse either locks in or introduces deliberate friction against the melody. Those are the decisions that belong to a drummer leading from the kit, and the places where A Blue Time becomes an actual lesson in arrangement rather than just a record.