It’s not often that someone mixes jazz with chess, but drummer Johnny Steele makes all of the right moves. With his team of Chris Bittner/ts, Esteban Castro/p and Cole Davis/b, he intertwines classy modern jazz sounds with spoken messages about chess, even including references to Clifford Brown’s interest in it as well as thoughts on Bob Dylan, John Lennon and beyond.
Musically, Steele rides the cymbals like a knight move on “Lennon’s Aggression” for Bittner’s full-bodied tenor, while building up a nice chicka-boom groove on “Bowie”. Castro’s piano goes Debussy-impressionistic with Bittner on the soprano in a castling move, and soft brushwork supplied on “Dylan’s dream” while the same setup goes modal on the extroverted “Can We Turn The Lights On?” Excellent endgame.