Though born, bred and based in Los Angeles, guitarist Jack Allen gives a tribute to the dna of New Orleans that was passed down from his Crescent City native father on this rich and multi-faceted album. Allen’s tone and style on the guitar is clean and swinging, showing he took his lessons from the likes of mainstream boppers like Barney Kessel and John Collins to heart as he teams up here with a winning combo of Azar Lawrence/ts, Land Richards/dr, Onaje Murray/vib, Todd Hunter, Munyungo Jackson/perc, Steve Baxter/tb, the trumpets of Paul Salvo and Nolan Shaneed as well as the three trading off electric basses of Don Patterson, Ernest Tibbs and the late Robert Russell.
Allen’s own compositions are delights, with the opening title track capturing the laid back but strutting forward vibe of the famed City, with Baxter’s rich trombone sliding like Ricky Henderson and Allen himself picking and grinning to Richards’ snapping sticks. A mix of military crisp drums march to a modal direction as Lawrence and Allen dig in deep to the aggressive and spark flying “The King” while the funky “Romans 6” mixes gospel beats with swampy atmospheres of the honeysuckle bloomin’ on the honeysuckle vine.
Best of all are the sublime guitar-bass duets of jazz standards between Allen and the recently departed Russell. “Jitterbug Waltz” is a delicate and sublime conversation, “Oleo” is a fun and hip pas de deux and the sublime bebopper “Scrapple From The Apple” have the two gents throwing off more quotes than Bartletts. Having these three pieces interspersed between the larger ensembles makes the entire album feel like a glorious audible mosaic, as if one were wandering down the side streets of the French Quarter, grabbing a beignet from Café Du Monde here, or a bite of Oysters Bienville at Felix’s there. A true hue of sounds and flavors.