Drummer Xaver Hellmeier has hard bop in his bones on a blue plate of Blue Note themed material with the muscular team of Jeremy Pelt/tp, Eric Alexander/ts, David Hazeltine/dr and Peter Washington/b on a mix of originals and jazz classics. Hellmeier mixes up the sticks and brushes well, subtle in the quartet setting with Pelt in a Miles mood on the muted and classy “I Could Write A Book”, while he is nimble on the brushes in a trio read of “”The Nearness Of You”, and stretches out a bit hitting the skins for his spotlight of “A Night In Verona”. The horns preach the gospel on the Sunday beat of “Blues For JF” and glide over the samba for “Books’ Bossa”. Alexander is in a beefy mood as well, shooting with both barrels on the bopping “Advance Notice” , with Hazeltine glassy and classy for “”The Good Life”. Toe tapping treasures.