Bebopping Along by Phil Lentz: The Jazz-Pop Single Still Finding Listeners Nearly Two Years On
5 min read
Bebopping Along by Phil Lentz: The Jazz-Pop Single Still Finding Listeners Nearly Two Years On
A New York Pianist’s Jazz-Pop Single Keeps Reaching Listeners Through Reviews, Gigs and Playlists
Bebopping Along runs two minutes and twenty-four seconds. Nearly two years after its release, it is still finding new listeners. Phil Lentz, a New York jazz pianist, recorded it with Richard Philbin on alto saxophone as the opening track of Phil Lentz Presents… Vol. II, an 11-track album released in November 2024.
Phil Lentz’s Bebopping Along is in the playlist below, filed with this desk’s jazz, classical and cinematic picks, and the full run of coverage sits on the Phil Lentz artist profile. The track reached BestMusic.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Play it first, then read on for who it suits.
Who Bebopping Along by Phil Lentz Is For, From Pop Listeners New to Jazz to Bebop Regulars
The first audience is easy to name. It is the pop listener who likes the sound of jazz but has never known where to start. Bebopping Along suits that listener because it is short, bright and melodic. The alto states the tune. The piano answers it. Nothing outstays its welcome. Its length also lets it sit between pop songs on a playlist without breaking the flow.
The second audience is the jazz regular. Bebop is the fast, harmonically busy language of 1940s New York, and the track nods to it openly. A regular will hear the phrasing and the swing. They will also notice the restraint, because the arrangement trims every passage to pop length.
That double audience has a long history. Ramsey Lewis took a jazz piano trio into the American pop charts with The ‘In’ Crowd in 1965, proving that a groove and a clear melody could travel. Much later, Jamie Cullum built a career on jazz piano dressed in pop songwriting, starting with Twentysomething in 2003. Bebopping Along works at a smaller scale, but it makes the same bet: keep the jazz language intact and make the door wide.
Early Response From Reviewers Who Heard a Bright, Short Jazz Tune
The reviews so far point in one direction. Broken Color reviewed the single in November 2025, and Lucy Fitzgerald singled out its bright, sparkling piano introduction. The same review praised the short running time for leaving the listener wanting more. A year earlier, NYS Music covered the full album and described a genre-blending record that built on the reception of the 2022 debut.
Those notices matter for a self-released record. They show the single reaching listeners well beyond its release week. Each new review sends a few more people back to the album, which is how a quiet jazz-pop single keeps moving.
The New York Jazz Community Around Phil Lentz, From Music Makers Bands to Studio Mozart
The music comes out of a working community. For the last decade, Lentz has played piano in bands organised by Music Makers, at New York venues including the Iridium, the Bitter End and the Cutting Room. In November 2025, as Hollywood Press Corps reported, Lentz played the Iridium in midtown Manhattan with a Music Makers band featuring the jazz singer Paula Newman.
The recordings draw on the same habit of collaboration. Phil Lentz Presents… Vol. II credits Richard Philbin on alto saxophone, alongside Red Heller, Bob Cohen and Dennis Harte across the album. Harte also produced the record at Studio Mozart in Little Falls, New Jersey. As a result, Bebopping Along sounds like a tune played by people who know each other’s habits.
Lentz arrived at this community from another career. Before music, Lentz was an award-winning political journalist, with bylines at Crain’s New York Business and the Chicago Tribune. Lentz has also published two political thrillers, The Corcoran Affair and Murder at City Hall. Today the work is original music in jazz, pop and folk. That background helps explain the economy of the writing: a journalist’s habit of saying it once and moving on.
Why a Circle of Regular Players Suits a Short Bebop Tune Like This One
Bebop depends on listening. A fast line only works when the players around it react in time. Here, the rhythm section stays light, the alto leads, and the piano fills the gaps. The result is a track that new listeners can follow and regulars can enjoy, which is exactly the double audience it set out to reach.
BestMusic.News’s curator team: “Bebopping Along earns its replays through economy. Richard Philbin’s alto and Phil Lentz’s piano say what they need in under two and a half minutes, which is why the track keeps picking up listeners who would never sit through a long jazz solo.”
Hear the full album on Spotify and Bandcamp. Then follow Phil Lentz on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. The official site has the full story.
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