A more accurate title of Kyle Eastwood’s latest release could be “Timeless Pieces,” as these 10 songs capture the eternal qualities of what makes jazz such a wonderful musical medium. Eastwood brings his bass collection and forms the timeless small group format, the hard bop quintet with Brandon Allen/ts-ss, Quentin Collens/tp-fh, Andrew McCormack/p and Ernesto Simpson/dr. As in all of Eastwood’s releases, a devotion to well conceived “classic” jazz material is in focus, with his devotion to Blue Note sounds from icons Horace Silver and Herbie Hancock evident in both the material selected and the style involved.
Of the former, Silver’s “Blowin’ The Blues Away” has crisp and snapping horns delivering the theme alongside the air tight rhythm section, while a reading of Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” features Eastwood’s elastic electric bass bouncing like a Superball around Allen’s warm horn. “Peace Of Silver” is an original composition that is a gospel-grooved tribute to Eastwood’s inspiration, while “Bullet Train” is a high energy quicksilver-ed affair with Allen’s soprano searing like a flame thrower. Eastwood’s bass dances like a ballerina on the lilting “Vista” which features the two horns wearing soft gloves. The even more gentle side of the band is on display on the delicate and dainty “Nostalgique” which has Eastwoods bass gently veering around Allen’s tenor, and even more enticing is the duet between Eastwood and McCormack on a reading of “Letters From Iwo Jima” that is nothing short of spell binding.
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Jazz Village