Reginald Cyntje Group Brings Caribbean Sounds to Jazz Night at Museum

Jazz group with local ties plays to sold out crowd at Piedmont Arts

Trombonist Reginald Cyntje and his band brought smooth island beats and the driving grooves of mid-Atlantic jazz to a sold out crowd at Piedmont Arts on Friday.

Based in Washington D.C., the Reginald Cyntje Group brings together five talented musicians: Cyntje, Lenny Robinson on drums, Herman Burney on bass, Justin Taylor on piano and Brian Lee Settles on tenor saxophone. Cyntje composes and arranges all the music that the band performs and the rich rhythms of his native U.S. Virgin Islands permeate the groups arrangements.

Though born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cyntje also has ties to Martinsville. His wife is a Martinsville native and his father-in-law, Dr. J.C. Richardson, Jr., is Bishop of Martinsville’s Mt. Sinai Apostle Church.

“I’ve been to Martinsville many times,” said Cyntje. "I’m excited to share my music with the community. It’s a high honor to return as a performing artist.”

The group's performance at Piedmont Arts was part of an East coast tour, which took the group to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond on Thursday and to Beyu Caffe in Durham, N.C. on Saturday night.

“It’s a real honor to have musicians of such talent perform live at the museum,” said Executive Director Kathy Rogers. “This was an intimate event and those who attended really got to experience an amazing concert, amazing talent."