Tenor saxist Sarah Lee started the group Blue Muse after leaving a 20 year career in the IT field. She must have downloaded a lot of Blue Note sessions during her computer career, as this hard bop beauty oozes of vintage Art Blakey and Horace Silver jazz messages, with a dash of Gerry Mulligan coolness thrown in. The team of Lee and Steve Strawley/tp-fh, Lance Reed/tb, Javian Francis/p, Jarrett Carter/g, Cody Wheaton/b and Jack Miller-John Medico/dr flex their collective muscles as they shuffle through Wayne Shorter’s “One By One” and the ultra hip “Sweet and Sour” as Lee’s beefy tenor fills the room. Reed slides hard on and Strawley taps into his inner Lee Morgan on Horace Silver’s “Nutville” and teams with Carter on the kinetic “Ping Pong”. The team is California Cool on the muted read of “It Never Entered My Mind” and the band digs an irresistible groove on “Freedom Sound”. Toe tapping treasures; no artificial intelligence here!