Pianist Nitsan Kolko’s Stories Untold,
His Debut as a Trio Leader, Out Today
Released November 13 on Adhyaropa Records
Trio Celebrates with Two Sets at Birds NYC Tonight
Listen to Stories Untold here
Watch “Effervescent” | Watch “Ocean Ave”
Israeli-born, New York-based pianist and composer Nitsan Kolko releases Stories Untold, his debut as a trio leader, today via Adhyaropa Records. Featuring Charlie Lincoln on bass and Ben Silashi on drums, the album’s ten originals explore how composition and improvisation can strengthen each other, drawing on literature, film and personal memory. The trio celebrates the release tonight with two sets at Birds NYC, followed by Brooklyn dates at Cafe Ornithology on November 24 and Ornithology Jazz Club on November 29.
“Bill Evans was my first real inspiration, and he’s still the deepest one,” says Kolko. “The pianists I love most treat the trio as a conversation rather than a rhythm section behind a soloist. That’s exactly what I had in mind writing for this group.”
Stories Untold arrives on the heels of two singles: “Effervescent,” which opens the album with a form borrowed from Brazilian samba, moving from an exploratory verse into a lyrical hook the whole band joins, and “Ocean Ave,” a slow waltz named for Kolko’s street along Prospect Park. Elsewhere, “Procession of the Ages” retells a scene from Machado de Assis’s The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, and “Panacea” is a eulogy for his late relative and collaborator Shlomo Sonnenfeld. Two solo piano pieces, “Streetlights” and closer “Hillside Green,” nod to Messiaen, Chopin and Wagner.
The trio developed its rapport over a monthly residency at Brooklyn’s Ornithology Jazz Club before recording at The Bunker Studios in Brooklyn in January 2026, with mixing by Aaron Nevezie and mastering by David Darlington.
Born in Israel, Kolko studied at the Israeli Conservatory of Music and The New School, and has written for big band, string quartet, choir and film. As a sideman with saxophonist Amit Friedman, he has performed at festivals across Europe. He returned to New York in 2023 to focus on his work as a leader.
Nitsan Kolko. Photo: Edgar GZ
Stories Untold Tracklist
1. Effervescent
2. Procession of the Ages
3. Ocean Ave
4. Second Wind
5. Streetlights
6. The Clock Waits For No One
7. Lapse
8. Panacea
9. Denizens
10. Hillside Green
Album Release Shows
November 13: Birds NYC, New York, NY (8pm & 10pm)
November 24: Cafe Ornithology, Brooklyn, NY (9:30pm)
November 29: Ornithology Jazz Club, Brooklyn, NY (9pm)
Listen: Stories Untold on Spotify
Nitsan Kolko Online
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