Steve Davis shows his trombone and composition skills on this rich collection of bop and post bop with an adroit team of Wayne Escoffrey/ts, Xavier Davis/p, Joshua Bruneau/tp, Dezron Douglas/b Jonathan Barber/dr and guest Cyro Baptista/perc.
Davis’ trombone slides like Ricky Henderson over the sleek pulse of Davis and Douglas on “Subtlety” and is lovely and warm on the lyrical take of Horace Silver’s “Peace.” Douglas is bright and clear and Davis digs in deep on the incendiary and dramatic take of McCoy Tyner’s “Inner Glimpse.” Baptista joins in for some extra salsa sounds for “Batista’s Revenge” with Escoffrey’s rich tenor simmering and sparkling. The team is hip on a groover like “Can’t Complain” and “Think of Me” with the band eating up the pulse like a grilled steak. Lots of smiles are coaxed out on these vibes; a joy for hard bop hearts.