Trumpeter Terell Stafford has been building a legacy of impressive tribute albums of jazz legends like Lee Morgan and Billy Strayhorn. This time around, he tips his hat to the recently departed bop playing and composing legend Jimmy Heath, directing the Temple University Jazz Band and bringing in fellow Philly guests in bassist Christian McBride and organmeister Joey DeFrancesco.
The charts are filled with rich punches like a middleweight, hip and bopping on “Passing The Torch” or mellow with the husky toned voice of Danielle Dougherty on “Please Don’t Talk About Me”. Joey D hums through the tricky hairpin turns of “In That Order” like a Formula racer, while McBride snaps that deep rich bass on a powerful swinger of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”. The band and Dougherty take you down noir alley on “The Blues Ain’t” and the guests jam with Stafford’s rich horn leading the charge on a festive “Perdido”. Stafford leads by serving, and he serves well here.