Sean Nelson leads a full bodied and polished brassy big band, even adding his own collection of trombone, electric trombone and alto trombone into the mix of the 17+ members. A number of the tunes reveal Nelson’s marrow of a Count Basie influence, as there’s a hip KC swing to “Social Hour” and a “Lil Darlin’” delicacy to the velvety intro of the blue “Brisket and Beans” while pianist Jen Allen is Basie-economical along with Tom Brown’s easy horn during “Countin’ Freckles”. Nelson livens things up with his electric ‘bone on the quirky “Freaks in Mayberry” with a space cadet of a solo with the dramatic Cedric Mayfield on tenor”. With extra textures by the 10 member Trombone Ensemble, Mayfield pulls out the exotic tarogato to team up with Doug Maher’s cool guitar strings ont eh graceful pulsations of “Let There Be Light”. A “Birdland”-ish “Every Possible History of the Universe has the leader riding over the big beat, with the sweet “Blues From The News” spotlights Haneef Nelson’s smooth trumpet. Easy on the ears, inspiring for the toe tapping feet.