Trombonist Javier Nero leads a swinging and spirited septet of Tom Kelley/as-ss-fl, Jean Caze/gp-fh, Melvin Butler/ts-ss, tal Cohen/p, Dion Kerr/b, Aaron Kimmel/dr along with a collection of guests including Brian Lynch on this celebratory session. Nero shows his rich tone and talents on a gorgeous duet with pianist Shelly Berg on the pretty “Just Let Go” while showing his bop chops on the pulsating “Cacha” and snappy “Double Vision”, joined on the latter by singer Lauren Desberg. A two-part “I Tried So Hard” mixes soulful voices and polished brass, while the horn section shines like the chrome on a ’61 Chevy on the gospel’d “Freedom”. This is a smile starter.