Paul Cornish Steps Into the Blue Note Legacy With You’re Exaggerating!

Every artist who records for Blue Note becomes part of a grand legacy that now stretches 86 years. Pianist Paul Cornish is not only stepping into that tradition — he’s carrying forward several overlapping strands of it. His debut album for the label, You’re Exaggerating!, serves as both a mission statement and a bold vision for Blue Note’s next generation.

Cornish enters a Blue Note piano lineage that runs from the early 78-rpm releases of Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, through Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Geri Allen, right up to contemporary voices like Aaron Parks and Gerald Clayton. His arrival places him among innovators who reshaped how jazz piano sounds in every era.

Cornish is also part of another proud Blue Note thread: the stream of artists hailing from Houston, Texas. Alumni of the city’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) include Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Walter Smith III, Kendrick Scott, Chris Dave, and James Francies. Cornish, born and raised in Houston and now based in Los Angeles, continues this lineage while adding his own modern voice.

As Cornish puts it, “Those early Robert Glasper records on Blue Note, like Canvas and In My Element, were my first window into this legacy I’m part of. With each one of us, it evolves and expands.”

Recorded with bassist Joshua Crumbly and drummer Jonathan Pinson, Cornish’s debut brims with personality and emotional range. The nine originals draw on memory, mentors, and inspiration:

• “Queinxiety” reveals the tension between Cornish’s calm surface and inner restlessness.

• “5AM” meditates on youthful ambition and late-night searching.

• “Queen Geri” pays homage to the late Geri Allen, celebrating overlooked brilliance of women in jazz.

• “Palindrome” riffs off a Ben Riley drum rhythm, featuring guitarist Jeff Parker in sleek, Monk-inspired conversation.

• “Modus Operandi” nods to Jason Moran’s Bandwagon and Baroque counterpoint.

• “DB Song” borrows its spark from the experimentation of visual artist David Hammons.

The trio’s interplay — full of groove, abstraction, and surprise — reflects Cornish’s belief that jazz is about curiosity, not easy resolutions. Under the production of Henry Solomon, the recording captures the subtleties of Cornish’s touch and the dynamics of his group.

Cornish’s foundation began early. He studied percussion as a child, classical piano by age five, and jazz during middle school. The city’s Summer Jazz Workshop deepened his passion, while church music gave him both professional experience and spiritual grounding. By his teens he was a paid musician, blending gospel with contemporary sounds — training that instilled discipline and purpose he carries into his career today.

As Robert Glasper says of him: “Continuing the legendary lineage of Houston pianists while still carving out your own lane is not an easy feat. Paul is doing just that, giving us a few pages from his personal story.”

Cornish moved to Los Angeles for USC and later the elite Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz at UCLA. There he learned from Hancock himself and Wayne Shorter, absorbing lessons about artistry and integrity. Beyond jazz, Cornish has worked with Kanye West, Louis Cole, HAIM, and Snoh Aalegra, while also touring and recording with Joshua Redman.

On Redman’s Words Fall Short, Cornish demonstrated the poise and openness that now defines his own trio work.

With You’re Exaggerating!, Paul Cornish offers one of Blue Note’s most compelling debuts in recent years. It’s music that honors the label’s history while pushing its sound forward — rooted in Houston, shaped in Los Angeles, and inspired by mentors past and present.

Cornish himself puts it simply: “Watching those players before me in Houston, it just gave me motivation to keep working hard. I’m really just grateful to be a part of this story.”

Paul Cornish’s emergence shows how Blue Note continues to regenerate, creating a living tradition that’s always evolving. With You’re Exaggerating!, Cornish proves himself both a torchbearer and an innovator — exactly the kind of voice that will define jazz’s next era.