Sweet-tone trumpeter Jason Palmer leads a spacious quartet with tenor saxist Mark Turner, bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Kendrick Scott for a post bopping couple of sets at the Jazz Gallery back in June 7 and 8 of 2018.
Palmer has a gentle flow to his deliver, not unlike vintage Kenny Dorham, and it works well on these open pieces with nimble support by Brewer and Scott on “Herbs In A Glass” and the pulsating “Kalispel Bay.” He does a rich and sensitive intro to the frisky and free “Sadhana” and his harmonies with Turner meld like a Thai curry sauce on the lilting “Waltz for Diana.” Scott pushes the band a bit on the assertive “Rhyme and Reason.” Almost all of the songs are clocking in at 12-17, so everyone gets space; Brewer’s intro to “Blue Grotto” and the bluesy “Mark’s Place” segue into rivulets, and Scott rumbles into his opening for the easy groove of “The Hampton Inn (for Alan).” Relaxed, with the embers burning gently on orange coals.