Guitarist Peter Hand puts together a swinging and tasty big band that hits it right on all strides through a collection of originals and standards. The rhythm team of James Weidman/p, haravie S/b and Steve Johns/dr create a perfect pulse that gives new life to material such as the 60s soul tune “Sunny” and the lithe and hep “Summertime.” Houston Person brings his smoky tenor in for a few solos and bowls over the crowd on a high fat content reading of “Blues in the Night” as well as a nimbus cloudy “Daydream.” Hand himself shows gentle hands on the dainty ”Night Echo” and delvers clean lines on “Out of Print Blues’ while Johns drives the band with ringing cymbals. Valery Ponomarev’s horn does some nifty work on the bopping “The Elevator” and the gentle “Listen to Your Hear” and the horns of John Bailey/tp and Don Braden/as make for some velvety textures on “Barbara Rose.” A feast for mainstream big band fans, and guitar freaks will run fast to it as well.
Savant Records