There aren’t many living and active drummers that can be labeled “legendary”, but Louis Hayes is definitely one of them, having played with Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Oscar Peterson just to name a few. This latest album from the 86 year old vet is comfort food for the jazz soul, with a team of Abraham Burton/ts, Steve Nelson/vib, David Hazeltine/p and Dezron Douglas/b mixing together jazz standards with a couple originals.
Of the former, Hayes’ own title tune is an upbeat charmer featuring Burton’s beefy tenor, while “Carmine’s Bridge” is an easy bopper with composer Hazeltine swinging with style. Hayes uses his mallets with the cymbals to lead into Nelson’s gentle vibes on “Is That SO” while his high hat pops on the bopping “Mellow D” and percolating “ Ugetsu”. There’s a clever boogaloo beat to “Scarborough Fair” , and Hayes’ brushes are deft around Burton’s subtones and Nelson’s chimes for “So Many Stars”. Timeless tones.