Trios with deep roots
Pianist Taurey Butler sounds like he was weaned by the ivories of Gene Harris on this soulfully swinging session with bassist Morgan Moore and drummer Walt Muhammed. The team joyfully struts through shufflers like ”One Of The Others” and gets greasy for Moore on the blueser “Nutfog”. The church is never far away for the hand raising “On The Natch” and “Sisyphean Task” while Muhammed jabs and pokes on a clever read of “What Is This Thing Called Love” and uses his brushes deftly for “I Can Only Be Me”. Butler has a wide read with his fingers on the striding “Swappin’ Lies” and is glassy on “Smile”. The toes are tapping!
Pianist Matthew Fries creates a trio of an album with bassist John Hebert and drummer Keith Hall that is reflective of Bill Evans’ vintage early work. He has an elegant and classically harmonic sound, lovely on “Lost Time” and introspective on “Insomnia” while Hebert’s bass on the latter 
seems inspired by Scott LaFaro. The team swings easy on “Quarantine” and impressionistic for “The Fog” with Hall supplying some muscle on his intro to “Heroes”. Impressive portraits in jazz.
Pianist Craig Davis comes up with the brilliant idea of revisiting the songbook of bebop pianist Dodo Marmarosa, best known for his work with Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Howard McGhee. Davis’ second good call is forming the trio with legendary bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton, who were weaned on these vibes. Davis himself has a rich and strong stride, sublime on “Mellow Mood”, bright on “Dodo’s Bounce” and digging in deep on “Dodo’s Blues”. Clayton snaps and swings on a classy and uptown “Dary Departs” and Hamilton snaps like snow peas on “Escape” while his brushes dust off home plate on “A Ditty For Dodo”. Davis goes it alone on a lovely “Tone Paintings I” and is glassy on “Dodo’s Lament”. A great intro to a jazz
root.
Rich moods are created by deep pulsed bass Jeff Denson, Grant Green-inspired guitarist Romain Pilon along with drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade on this collection of intuitive originals. Soundscapes a la Pat Metheny are gentle on the mind of “Sixto” with sublime folk moods brushed along by Blade on the title tune. Pilon and Denson are delicate and dainty on “Wishing Well” with Denson giving a dancing into for the sleek “Daily Jubilee of Dancing Herbie D”. Blade’s presence is felt throughout, but not dominant, loose on the troubadour’d “A Moment In Time” and rural with the mallets on the journey of “Espoir”. Sublime sketches.