Warm toned saxist Walter Smith III is both a throwback to the days of rich toned artists like Sonny Rollins, but he also goes Millennial with his intricate soloing over clever grooves on this collection of trio pieces. The teammates rotate around he and drummer Eric Harland, as Harish Raghavan and Christian McBride share the bass role, and buddy Josh Redman joins in for a pair of extra textured pieces. Of the latter, the two horns lock like Grey and Gorton on the bopping “Contrafact” while creating a sonic hairball for the fun read of Grofe’s “On the Trail.” Harland keeps a busy undercurrent for Smith’s longboarding on the frisky “Ask Me Now” and gets frilly like a fluffy ruffle as Harland hippity hops on “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Both McBride and Raghavan do a yeoman’s job of keeping the sail moving forward with a hip pulse on the loosely grooved “Adams’ Apple” and the rich throb during “Social Call.” Impressive impressions.Walter Smith III: Twio
Warm toned saxist Walter Smith III is both a throwback to the days of rich toned artists like Sonny Rollins, but he also goes Millennial with his intricate soloing over clever grooves on this collection of trio pieces. The teammates rotate around he and drummer Eric Harland, as Harish Raghavan and Christian McBride share the bass role, and buddy Josh Redman joins in for a pair of extra textured pieces. Of the latter, the two horns lock like Grey and Gorton on the bopping “Contrafact” while creating a sonic hairball for the fun read of Grofe’s “On the Trail.” Harland keeps a busy undercurrent for Smith’s longboarding on the frisky “Ask Me Now” and gets frilly like a fluffy ruffle as Harland hippity hops on “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Both McBride and Raghavan do a yeoman’s job of keeping the sail moving forward with a hip pulse on the loosely grooved “Adams’ Apple” and the rich throb during “Social Call.” Impressive impressions.