Here are a couple of releases that reflect different means of reaching the same ends; intimate, swinging yet intricate music.
Guitarist Duke Robillard teams up with Brad hallen/b and Mark tixeira/dr for a mix of originals and standards, playing it fairly straight forward, and keeping the toes tapping the whole hour through. Some tasty versions of “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and” If I Had You” are spaced between get-down versions of “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” and “High Heel Sneakers.” Robillard varies the guitars, tunings, pickups and picking styles to keep your ears active, making this a nice workshop for fretful fans.
Vibist Joe Locke and pianist Geoffrey Keezer have made careers of being reliable sidemen. This session has them leading in name only, co-oping with Terreon Gully/dr and Mike P ope/b through (mostly) originals that range from the assertive kineticism of the title track to spacious pastoral hues on “Her Sanctuary.” The melding of iron and ivory is sonically splendid, with ricochets of sounds bouncing on “The Lost Lenore” and a wondrous take of John Coltrane’s “Naima.” Pope displays flexible bass work on “Terraces” where he gets a chance to shine, but it’s the cohesion of all forces joining together that make this a joy to imbibe.
Blue Duchess Records
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Motema Records