One of jazz’s best kept secrets is the venerable bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin. He’s got history in his fingers, and everything he does is essential listening. This latest release has him teamed with a jazz/strings combo of Erik Jekabson/tp-fh, Gregory Howe/perc, Mike Hughes/dr, Ross Howe/g, Matt Clark/key, Roger Glenn/vib and a string section of Mads Tolling/v, Anthony Blea/vi, Charith Premawardhana/va and Ben Davis/cel. The result is a gorgeous Raphaelesque tapestry of strings and swing.
Franklin opens things up with a deep pulse, augmented by strings and led by Howe’s guitar solo on “The Dream Within A Dream”. Clark is ethereal around the vibes and horn with the wafting strings on ”Agapanthus”. Hughes lays out an exotic cadence under Jekabson’s muted horn on the dance of “Skipper’s Garden” and gets funky on the soulful “Video Culture”. Franklin’s thick pulse is never far away, rich on the intro to the fun “Opposite Reverse Rewind” and richly locked with Hughes’ sticks for he South of the Border “Oaxacan Standoff”. The strings never intrude; they only entice as all flavors should do when properly added to the recipe. A sensational serving of sounds.