Getting to New York City for a three-hour recording session was a whirlwind of a trip for Eugene-based jazz saxophonist Joe Manis. After a long trip to Gung Ho Studios in New York City, Manis had a high school flashback when the iconic drummer Bill Stewart walked into the recording studio.
What triggered Manis’ memory was a drum kit that Stewart walked in with. It was the same mismatched kit that he used in a drumming instructional VHS that Manis would watch when he was younger. And that’s when the gravity of the recording session for Manis’ new album began to hit.
“I saw him perform at the Aladdin in Portland before and I’ve heard him on records,” Manis says, “but to stand there and hear him live — it was like something else.”
For Manis’ new record, Take it With Me, he recruited three top U.S. jazz players: pianist and longtime friend George Colligan, drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Vicente Archer. The record features a list of tunes that Manis has been playing at gigs and concerts over the years, and it’s his first album in a decade. Released in December 2025 by Spain-based jazz label Fresh Sound Records, Manis has a CD release concert at The Jazz Station April 17.
“I didn’t feel a lot of urgency within those 10 years to do something on my own, because I was doing more things as a side person,” Manis said. “But also the climate has changed with physical releases, and I found that kind of discouraging.” But, he said, he’d been encouraged to do it by his wife, Lillie Manis, and Colligan.
Manis’ record features a prestigious lineup. Although both Archer and Stewart have a long resume of bands they’ve played with the past 30 years, they’re well known for being the supporting figures of legendary jazz guitarist John Scofield’s trio and quartet bands. Colligan is a fixture in the U.S. jazz scene and is based in the Pacific Northwest since moving here from New York City years ago.
“It was like driving an electric car,” Manis says about recording with the band. “You know, there’s an instant torque. There’s no getting up to speed. After the first two beats, it’s ‘Bam.’ It just felt like something else.”
Manis’ previous record, The Golden Mean, was released a decade ago. Since then, he’s been teaching at various colleges in the region and also leading the Oregon Jazz Workshop, a weeklong all ages event based in Eugene during mid-July that provides masterclasses and sessions that he says seeks to keep jazz accessible.
Each of Manis’ records has unconsciously marked a personal life milestone. His 2008 debut, Evidence, was recorded when he returned to Eugene. The 2013 album North By Northwest was recorded when his son was born. The 2014 Golden Mean was recorded when his father died. Take It With Me was recorded around the time of his daughter’s birth.
The album reflects Manis’ repertoire over the past decade, but one song digs deep, back to when he was a college student. He wrote the album’s opening track, “Sleepwalker,” back when he was a 23-year-old student at Eastman School of Music in New York. He was assigned to write a contrafact, a common practice among jazz musicians to write new melodies over existing song structures.
Originally, he named it “You Stepped in Front of a Bus,” he says, paying homage to “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” a jazz standard originally written for the 1941 musical film Ziegfeld Girl. “‘You Stepped out of a Dream’ is probably one of my favorite songs because it has so many key centers, but not in a gratuitous way,” Manis says, referencing the original song’s structure.
The album has some free songs and a few more rock songs, including the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” The Beatles’ “Michelle” and Tom Waits’ “Take it with Me.” But among the classic rock icons, it’s the song “There’s a Forest” that stands out, written by Jack Bruce, the bassist for the influential ’60s British blues rock band Cream.
A highlight of the album is the gritty and groovy take on the theme from the 1974 film The Taking of Pelham 123. Manis transforms the theme from a Hollywood orchestral work into a groove-oriented tune, accenting the song’s sharp melodic and dissonant jabs. The groove Manis and his crew establish feels reminiscent of Medeski, Martin & Wood — and a feel that could still serve as the soundtrack for a hip takeover of a New York subway train
For The Jazz Station CD release party, Manis won’t have the same band behind him, but the group will feature a band with an impressive resume nonetheless: Charlie Doggett (drums), and University of Oregon School of Music and Dance professors Keith Brown (keyboard) and John Storie (guitar).
His album Take It with Me may be another line on a long list of appearances for Stewart and Archer, but for Manis, the day they recorded the album will stick with him. “If there was a day that I could keep reliving, that would be one of them, even though it was a pretty whirlwind trip,” Manis says.
Joe Manis’ Take It with Me is available as a digital download on Fresh Sounds BandCamp, or email JoeManis@hotmail.com to buy a CD. His quartet performs at The Jazz Station 7:30 pm Friday, April 17, $25.
Oregon Jazz Workshop is July 13-17. Visit OregonJazzWorkshop.com for more information.