The New York Second

The New York Second is a Netherlands-based musical ensemble established in 2015. It features the compositions of bandleader and pianist Harald Walkate and has released four albums: Bay of Poets (2017), Emergo (2020), Music at Night (2022) and the latest release After the Hours, the Minutes (2023).
The group has performed as a quartet, as a quintet, as a septet and – on its most recent album – in trio setting.

The group’s albums and performances have featured some of the Netherlands’ best-known musicians, including Teus Nobel, Jasper van Damme, Tom Beek, Mark-Alban Lotz, Thomas Pol, Jesse Schilderink, Vincent Veeneman and Frank Paavo.

The music of The New York Second can be classified as contemporary jazz, but takes on influences from soul, Latin and classical. Critics have typified the music as “atmospheric”, “poetic” and “cinematic”.

foto’s: Stijn Kuiper

In August 2022, the prominent Dutch jazz magazine Jazzism featured Harald and The New York Second in an article that covered a wide range of subjects, from Harald’s double life to how a taxi driver in Florida inspired one of the pieces on Music at Night.

Click on the pictures or read the text in pdf for the full story.

Albums

Video

Inspiration

These jazz tracks helped inspire our compositions: to us they are everything that is also often said about our own music – contemporary jazz that is “atmospheric”, “poetic” and “cinematic”. And inspirational!