Though they’ve gone through various personnel changes, the Yellowjackets have been together through 40 plus years, with founding member Russell Ferrante and longtime compatriot Bob Mintzer still sounding fresh, along with drummer William Kennedy and bassist dane Alderson. Their last album featured the rich voice of Luciana Souza; this time out they are teamed up with the heralded WDR Big Band, and bring in some nice charts as well as soloing from Paul Heller/ts, Paul Shighara/g, Johan Horlen/as and Ruud Breuls/tp to mix things up a bit.
The band snaps to Alderson’s and Kennedy’s solos on the upbeat “Downtown”, while Mintzer sears through his EWI on the hip “One Day” upbeat “The Red Sea” and soulful “Imperial Strut”, all giving space for Ferrante’s spirited piano work. The big band horns give a warm hug around Mintzer’s tenor for “Mile High” and the sections sway on the rhythm section shuffles on “Revelation”, letting Mintzer, Alderson and Ferrante get plenty of solo space. These gents keep coming up with new ideas, and get younger every year.