Like countless seekers, strivers and ambitious young artists before them, Pascal and Remy LeBeouf arrived in New York City last August with big dreams and few connections.

The Santa Cruz-raised identical twins are two of the most promising jazz musicians to come out of the region in the past decade, assured improvisers who have already filled a mantle with awards and honors. The Big Apple isn’t a town known for being easily impressed, however, and the brothers were keenly aware that they were trading a relatively small, placid pond for a seething ocean of talent.

After a year at the Manhattan School of Music, they’ve not only survived their Gotham immersion, they seem to be flourishing. Remy has been studying with veteran saxophonist Dick Oatts, while Pascal is a student of pianists Kenny Barron and Mike Abene. The brothers have returned home for the summer practically bursting with new information, as they’ve alternated between cloistered practicing and sensory-overload club hopping.

They celebrate the release of Pascal’s excellent new album Migration on Saturday at the Jazz & Blues Company with a quintet featuring Remy on saxophones, J.J. Byars on alto, bassist Dominic Thiroux and drummer Colin Stanahan.

They have worked together in the Monterey Jazz Festival All-Star Band, and in the Clifford Brown-Stan Getz Fellows, an honor band assembled by the International Association of Jazz Education.

I caught up with the twins recently when they were ensconced in a Manhattan School of Music practice room, and here’s a condensed version of the conversation, as they passed Remy’s cell phone back and forth. While clearly engaged with their formal studies, both brothers spoke more about extracurricular activities than classroom exercises.

“Living here is an educational experience in itself,” Pascal says. “You learn as much out of playing gigs as anything else. In the beginning it was kind of rough. With no political connections, people don’t know to hire us. But lately I’ve been getting some gigs at restaurants, which is great. We learn how it works in the real world. A vocalist comes out and says she wants to do a tune you half know in a key you’re not comfortable with, and you have to hang.”

“We’ve been spending a lot of time at the school,” Remy says. “But when we do get out, the equivalent to the Kuumbwa would be the Jazz Gallery. It’s a great club, and they hire a lot of young, hip players just coming up. They offer nice student discounts, and I’ve had the chance to talk with a lot of musicians there, like Miguel Zenon, an incredible alto player [seen widely in the Bay Area with the SFJAZZ Collective] and the pianist Aaron Parks, who’s 21 and has been with Terence Blanchard for a few years. I saw Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts there and Marcus Strickland, who’s also got a twin brother [the drummer E.J. Strickland].

“Dave Holland came and played at Birdland…and I went every night. I talked with the band before and after, and I learned a lot just listening to them,” says Remy. “During a performance I started taking notes on a brown paper bag that I had brought a cup of coffee in with. There was so much information coming at me. They play with time so much.”

“Remy’s been going to more shows than I have,” Pascal says. “Even with student discounts they’re expensive, and we don’t have mom to pay for them anymore. What I’ve been doing, I’ll get together with someone I’m really interested in, like Danilo Perez or Aaron Parks, and make them a deal. if they give me a lesson, I’ll take them out to dinner, so it’s like you get an even longer lesson. That’s the best way to learn. You’re just talking and figuring out the way they think. It’s just as important as sitting at a piano.” 

“When I first came here I expected to be really intimidated, at the bottom of the food chain,” Remy says. “Then I realized that if I’m myself and have my own sound, I can’t compare myself to other people. I think the biggest change is that I’m playing a lot more tenor, though I’m still playing alto and bari. What’s driving it is that I’ve found more of a voice on the tenor. I feel my personality is stronger on tenor, though I want to carry it onto the alto.

“I’m definitely adjusting. We’re starting to get out on the scene. It’s not like we get here and we’re immediately going to be successful. We came to the big bad city expecting to be treated like dirt, but a lot people are helping us out. We’re doing better than a lot of other freshman are, just in getting gigs.”

Pascal and Remy LeBeouf play 7:30pm Saturday at the Jazz & Blues Company, San Carlos and 5th (above the Hog’s Breath Inn), Carmel. $40. 642-6432.