Ron Francis Blake has a tone and style that imbibes the waters of Kenny Dorham and Blue Mitchell, letting the glowing sounds of his trumpet and flugelhorn glisten like an autumn sunrise on this collection of originals and a couple covers. He teams up with a core ensemble of Rob Hardt/w-winds, Andy Lanham/p, Rene Amacho/b, Nick Mancini/vi, Jimmy Branly/dr as well as a 6 piece brass ensemble including Andy Martin/tp and Wayne Bergeron/tp for a few tracks as well as some high profile guests and the result is a varied and rich collection of moods.
Some lovely classical guitar work by Andy A bad creates a cozy “Saura de Nazareth,” creating a respite from the driving and boppy salsa styled “Night Dream”(with timbales supplied by Pancho Sanchez) and muscle flexing “You and Me Bess.” The team gets funky with Dante Pascuzzo’s bass on the bluesy “Northern Lights” and Langham’s piano does some rich work with Blake’s chestnut mare of a sound on the lovely “Mr. Bond/Half and Half.” Palpable pleasures.