Bassist Ark Ovrutski delivers a snapping session as he leads a team of Michael Dease/tb, Michael Thomas/as-ss, Helio Alves/p and Duduka Da Fonseca through a rich mix of originals and covers.
He displays his rich and resonant sound right off the bat here as he introduces the album with “Waltz For Debby” before the warm trombone and alto glide in for the melody. He repeats this pattern as he opens up the striding “La Mesha” and pianistically percussive “Twister” with palpable string work. Da Fonseca’s crisp ride cymbal drives the fun and funky read of Wayne Shorter’s “Tom Thumb” as Thomas and Dease produce countering conversations, while Alves is easy and graceful on “Manhattan Style.” The horns meld glowingly as Thomas switches to soprano on”Bolero” and the rhythm team shows how easy it can create a peppy groove on the closing “Good and Terrible.” A winning combo.
Origin Records