Drummer Jack Kilby creates a wonderful mosaic of sounds as he leads a swinging core hard bop team of Kris Monson/b, Allyn Johnson/p, John D’earth/tp, Charls Owens/ts and Elad Cohen/tb with creative interludes from a wide variety of guests.
The band gets into a hip groove on material like Hank Mobley’s infectious “Hipsippy Blues” and Herbie Hancock’s evocative “Driftin” while even a classical piece like Holst’s “Jupiter” gets a shakeup with the addition of Antonio Hart, Peter Del Grosso and Marcus Tenny on the added horns. A take of Radiohead’s “Life In A Glasshouse” also includes Hart, whle vocals by Christie Dashiell on “Pure Imagination” is a lovely read along with the instrumental take of it. Brief but evocative interludes are found throughout the album, such as a lovely Mark Meadows piano and Kris Monson bass on a pair of “With Love From…” tunes. The whole result is a wonderful tapestry of various colors woven together. Worth searching out!