Trumpets in various settings that swing….
On trumpet and flugelhorn, Charlton Singleton goes gloriously old school hard bop with a team of Mark Sterrbank/ts, Demetrius Doctor /p-key, Kevin Hamilton-Delbert/b and Quenton E. Baxter/d on a collection of cooking originals. He’s got a tone like the cooler cats of Kenny Dorham or Blue Mitchell, and he uses it judiciously on the hiply pulsed “Crossoads” the sweetly bopping “On The Avenue” and the lyrically romantic “PS (Postscript)”. The horns create wondrous harmonies on”Matador” while Doctor gives a nice prescription while lurking around “Man In Motion”. Singleton’s muted horn is sleek on “Nett and Root” and the team bops like a Blue Note session on “1000 Nights”. Fingerpoppin’.
Roomful Of Blues alumnus Al Basile goes Memphis swamp as he sings and blows his horn with Kid Anderson/g, Mark Teixeira/dr, Brad Hilton/b, Bruce Bears/key, Doug James/ts-gs-bcl and Jeff Channonhouse/tp. His street smart voice works well on the calypso’d R&Ber “Keep On Living” while Anderson supplies tasty guitar work on “My Hero”. There are some gritty blues that boogie on “Two-legged Mule” and some dry rub Memphis BBQ on “Take Your Time” egged on by Hilton’s joggers pulse of a bass line. Lots of fun and upbeat moods like “We Belong Together” with Basile closing things out in a foreboding mood on “We Lie On You Grave”. A roomful of Memphis stews.