Call me silly, call me old fashioned, but don’t call me late for dinner-I’m just a sucker for a warm toned tenor, and Jan Kus (who also plays soprano here) fits the bill stupendously here. He has a core team of Sean Fitzpatrick/p-key, Dan Martinez/b and Joel Mateo/dr as well as a handful of welcome guests for this full bodied album.
His soprano is warm along with Fitzpatrick’s easy cadence on “Aqui’” and as the piano pulses on the title track, Kus is able to blow warm smoke rings. On the advanced hard bopper with extra percussion by Carlos Maldonado and trumpet by Alex Sipiagin, his tenor gets thick as molasses on “Neofito” while “Rhythm A Ning” without the percussion is a prismatic bopper. Most impressive is the lovely flowing and graceful “Strength” featuring Martinez’s lovely bass line, while more exotic sounds come out during the deliberate and spacious “Disconnect” which includes Rafal Sarnecki’s guitar, Ziga Murko’s electronics and Sipiagin’s horn. Some exquisite vocals by Melanie JB Charles has the leader provide rich obligatos underneath as she is dainty on “I’m Just A Little Person” and she breezes daintily on the aforementioned “Strength.” It doesn’t take much faith to be won over by this release.