Vintage and modern sounds of the six stringer in small group settings…
Larry Newcomb carries a classic sound veering between Herb Ellis and Wes Montgomery on this winning session with brother Jake on bass, Thomas Royal/p and Dave Marsh/dr. He shows how to swing on standards like “The Song Is You” and is clean and polished like a ’61 Caddy’s chrome on “You Stepped Out Of A Dream”, while showing his dexterity on Oscar Pettiford’s tricky “Tricotism”. As for originals, he follows along brother Jake’s bass line on the hip “Cliffhanger Blues” makes the team work out on the title track, and joins with Royal on the pretty “Essential Messengers”. Most fun of all is the take of Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man” which makes you want to grab for your shoe phone. This guy’s a keeper.
Justin Rothberg plays guitar and a bit of mandolin on this collection of mostly originals with Todd Groves/sax-fl-mel, Jon Price/b, Hiroyuki Matsuura/dr and Andy O’Neill/perc. On the violin-tuned instrument, he creates a South American feel on the festive “Hotel Show Repeat” , while on guitar the two get funky with Price’s deep groove on “Bad Apple”. The album was recorded ‘live’ in studio, and they give a nightclub feel on the swampy backbeat of “G Sus” with Rothberg’s guitar giving a nod to John Scofield’s tone and style on “Hurricane Mouse” while “Piece of Mind” a spacey affair with Groves’ soprano. Post bop chops.