I declare, I’ve GOT to go to this fest next year. This is the third time in a row that Mack Avenue has released a collection of songs from the Detroit Jazz Fest, and the music is COOKING!
It includes local legends Rodney Whitaker/b and Carl Allen/dr and along with Aaron Diehl/p, Evan Perri/g, Tia Fuller/as, Warren Wolf/vib and Kirk Whalum/ts they shake the foundations with soulful jazz and jazzy soul. Wolf’s vibes are lithe on a bopping read of Herbie Hancock’s “Riot” and Fuller teams with Perri for a Traneful “The Struggle.” Perri yearns on “A Mother’s Cry” and Whitaker chimes with Diehl on “Sanat Maria.” The grooves build up as the team starts getting funky on “ For Stephane” and when Whalum brings his horn up on “Bipolar Blues Blues” it’s time to start shuffling in the aisles. These guys (and gal!) keep it real!