Like the movie in which he supplied the soundtrack, bassist Kyle Eastwood shows that he’s unconquered by the current jazz trends and fads, assiduously staying loyal to the vintage hard bop sounds pioneered by Art Blakey and Horace Silver.
This latest album with stalwarts Brandon Allen/ts, Quentin Collins/tp-fh, Andrew McCormack/p, Chris Higginbottom/dr and guest Stefano Di Battista/ss-as will fit in comfortably with your vintage Blue Note hard bop sessions.
But Eastwood doesn’t stay stuck in the 50s, as his electric bass work with Di Battista’s soprano on the pastoral “Cinema Paradiso” is a sepia toned work of art, and McCormack delivers a smooth and silky original “Jarreau” that is deftly delightful. The team swings hard as Eastwood’s bass jumps into the barroom on Charles Mingus’ “Boogie Stop Shuffle” and a trio take of Thelonious Monk’s “We See” is a quirky and fun angular get together.
Vintage hard bop with a gospel feel is preached by the horns on “Soulful Times’ and the shuffling “Blues In Hoss’ Flat” that has the horns preaching from the pulpit, and the team gets a swaggering blues on the strutting “Movin’.” These guys make it sound so easy, but if it were, why isn’t everyone doing it?