It’s the rare thing to associate the French Horn with jazz outside of a few Gil Evans and Birth of Cool sessions, but Bob Watt walks the tightrope well on this rich album. He’s teamed with pianist Todd Cochran for the most part as well as a string section that includes the legendary Sid Page as well as jazzers Dave Dull/dr, Barry Finnerty/b, Trey Henry/b, Raynor Carroll/perc and a handful of vocalists.
He uses a rich song selection as well as bringing up a few originals. His horn is warm and expressive with strings and piano on “Gullah Novella” while Ravel’s “Forlane” is an impressionistic gem. The strings are lovely on Watt’s own ‘Eternity and Love,” while Watt displays his frisky side on the percussive and puffy freewheeling “Laughter/Humor/Satire.”
Watt’s spiritual side is well expressed with warm moods during Bach’s “Lord, I Cry to Thee” while his solo aria of “Amazing Grace” is like light through a morning stained glass window. On the jazzier side of things, a read of Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk” has Cochran delivering some clever support, and a tribute to Miles Davis is rich, meditative and visceral. Enjoyable and alluring on a variety of levels.