Pianist and singer Johnny O’Neal in Smalls, a basement club in New York’s Greenwich Village, March 30, 2014.

Pianist and singer Johnny O’Neal in Smalls, a basement club in New York’s Greenwich Village, March 30, 2014. O’Neal left New York more than two decades ago just as he was making a name for himself in jazz circles; now he’s back in town and trying to get his career on track. (Jacob Blickenstaff/The New York Times)