Not everyone plays the trumpet or flugelhorn like Arturo Sandoval, and not every song is “Happy New Year.” Here are a couple of horn players that veer toward delicacy.
Ron Helman sticks to the flugelhorn as he teams up with Mike Marinieri/vib, David Spinozza/g, Rachel Z Hakim/p-key, James Genus/b and Joel Rosenblatt/dr for some richly arranged and calm standards. The team gets fun and frisky with Genus and Spinozza tapping out “Sweet Georgia Brown” and guest Ann Hampton Callaway” gets down to business on “Born To Be Blue.” Mainieri’s arrangements are concise and clever, with the vibe-horn combo on “You’ve Changed” rich with textures, while the modal intro to “Jut Friends” grabs your attention. Helman’s vibrato is warm and glowing on “When Sunny Gets Blue” and reflective on the title track, while he sounds desperate and languid on ”Don’t Explain.” Suave and sincere.
Erik Jekabson plays both trumpet and flugelhorn along with a collective of Kasey Knudsen/as, Matt Clark/p, John Wiitala/b and Hamir Atwal” for some thoughtful originals and surprising covers. Of the latter, Atwal digs deep with guests Dave Ellis/ts and John Gove/tb while the confident keys and horn blow through Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and an equally funky “My Funny Valentine” shows some CTI-flavored soul. Jekabson’s flugelhorn is soft and cirrus shaped with Wiitala’s bass on “Chettie” and skates along with Knudsen’s alto as Atwal taps out the ride cymbal on “Morning Sunrise” and the whole team swings sweetly on “A Brand New Life.” Breaths of fresh air.