Trumpeter Theo Croker is the perfect selection for a tribute to 1950s era Miles Davis, as his quartet, alone and supplemented with the Gil Evansy Berlin Philharmonic, delve into the vintage Columbia Years of the iconic mastermind.
In quartet, Crocker and team are big bold and confident on the mix of “Pinocchio and Milestones” while “My Funny Valentine” is mellifluously muted on the Harmon. The rhythm team grooves well on “So What” and gets soulful on ”Footprints”. With wondrous woodwinds, you get a sublime “Miles Ahead Suite”, muted brass on the elegiac “Sketches of Spain” and the sections swaying and swirling on “All Blue”. Of course, you’ll ask why not get the originals, and I don’t have an answer.