Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-07-29
Photo Credit: Isaac Wheatley
New York City-based alto saxophonist Connor Sobieri has released “Lost Ones,” the lead single from his debut album, First Steps, arriving October 21.
Watch the “Lost Ones” music video HERE.
Fresh off announcing the project on the viral social media platform Track Star, the 23-year-old musician’s forthcoming release combines the jazz tradition with the rock, R&B, and hip-hop that defined his upbringing.
Alongside the new single, Sobieri has announced a limited-edition, 180-gram vinyl pressing of the album. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
“Having graduated from NYU a couple months prior, ‘Lost Ones’ was written to signify the feeling of the rug being pulled out from under your feet,” Sobieri said. “Going from the structured college environment to the turbulence of everyday life post-grad, the tune portrays this new uncertainty, the period of self-discovery that follows it, and invites you to dive into it headfirst.”
Born in an era when nearly every kind of music is only a click away, Sobieri has long resisted easy categorization. His influences range from jazz legends Charlie Parker and John Coltrane to contemporary innovators including Ben Wendel and Donny McCaslin. He also draws from 1970s and 1980s psychedelic rock and the genre-blurring work of Kiefer, J Dilla, Braxton Cook, and others.
Written over five years, the compositions on First Steps each depict a different period in Sobieri’s life, including personal turning points, medical trauma, and moments of triumph. The music follows his journey from college into independent adulthood, drawing on youthful existentialism to create a sound he describes as “existential jazz-rock.”
Sobieri lives with Crohn’s disease, and several tracks were written while he was hospitalized or recovering from a medical procedure in 2022. The life-threatening experience left him unable to play his instrument for six months. Rather than allowing the setback to stop his creative work, he turned to composing.
The album features emerging New York City musicians Dylan K. Smith, Erika Toda, Archish Arun, Gavin Gray, Wesley Lewis, and Chidiebere Joseph Emmanuel. The record developed over two years of experimentation and live performance, with the musicians making NuBlu their home as they shaped the material over a period of months and years.
That process resulted in an album initially written on paper, transformed by the band’s chemistry, and ultimately recorded in only two days at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, Connecticut.
First Steps Tracklist
1. Lost Ones
2. STNFRD — Connor Sobieri, Archish Arun
3. Falling
4. Convalescence (Song for Healing)
5. Loaded Gun (feat. Wesley Lewis)
6. Kintsugi — Connor Sobieri, Archish Arun
7. It’s You
About Connor Sobieri
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Connor Sobieri is a genre-bending saxophonist, composer, and bandleader whose music combines the jazz tradition with the rock, R&B, and hip-hop he grew up listening to.
Sobieri graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies in May 2025. He has performed alongside Alan Ferber, Melissa Aldana, Ryoma Takenaga, and Linda May Han Oh at venues including Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, The Appel Room, and NuBlu. He has also toured and recorded internationally.
Since moving to New York in 2021, Sobieri has studied with musicians including Dave Pietro, Tivon Pennicott, Chris Potter, Remy Le Boeuf, Alan Ferber, and Michael Attias.
He is also a winner of the 2025 John Deak First Music Competition, which culminated in a performance at Dizzy’s Club by the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Ensemble, led by Grammy-winning saxophonist Michael Thomas.
