Trumpeter Wallace Roney has released an impressive catalogue of albums, each one dealing with or trying to shed his career long comparisons to Miles Davis. He’s released albums that are similar to Davis’ ESP era, as well as material more akin to hip-hop and other electronica. This time, for the first time in a decade, he’s released an album that goes completely acoustic, and surprise of all surprises, his tone has finally broken away from the Prince of Darkness!
Leading the team of Arnold Lee/as, Ben Solomon/ts, Victor Gould-Eden Ladin/p, Daryl Johns/b and Kush Abadey/dr, Roney mixes material from his own band with a couple mainstream pianists. A pair of Duke Pearson tunes, the uptempo “Is That So?” and more refined “Gaslight” feature impressive soloing by Roney and his pair of sax players, while McCoy Tyner’s “Search for Peace” and “You Taught My Heart to Sing” spotlight Lee and Solomon respectively. Solomon’s complex “Kotra” and Lee’s red hot “Red Lantern” display impressively alacrity within the rhythm section, and Roney all throughout sounds like the master that he is throughout the session. You really can’t go wrong with this guy that always seems to be just about to break out of the pack.
High Note Records