Cool toned guitarist Martino Vercesi leads a post bop team of Rudi Manzoli/ts, Matteo Rebulla/dr and Danilo Gallo/b through six rich originals. Vercesi’s spaciousness and sleek lines are a plus here coalescing with Manzoli’s firm sounding tenor on the modern cadence of “First Coffee Break” and following Gallo’s lithe line on the easy pulse of “Hold On, Please”. The rhythm team is kinetic as they drive on the hip “He Won’t Get Far” and is frisky on the free “Go Further” before Vercesi unplugs and gives a folksy rural feel to the sublime “Old America.” Impressive in its unpretensions.
Leader Ted Quinlan uses his round sounding strings to lead a quartet of pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Kieran Overs and drummer Ted Warren for nine post modern originals. The moods are sublime and a mix of bop and impressionism with a nice gliding groove on “Cheticamp” and the sublimely relaxed “Babylon.” Warren guides the team with his crisp cymbals on the sharp “Building 8” and is assertively pushing Quinlan’s more thick sounding strings on the muscular “X Marks The Spot” while Overs lurks around with Dickinson on the behind the corner peeking of “Not What It Seems.” A folksy “La Bionda” closes out with a back porch acoustic mood. Rich communications and ripples of joy.