Just when you think there’s no one left who “gets it” on trumpet…
Anthony Hervey plays trumpet and sings a bit with a swinging yet modern conviction on this release. I’ve never heard anything from him before, but this album wih Sarah Hanahan/as, Isaiah J. Thompson-Sean Mason/p, Philip Norris/b and Miguel Russell/dr makes me want to do some digging.
He grabs your attention via a hip solo intro to a funky “Neither Here Nor There” and asserts himself as a bopper with clear lines with Hanhan on “Crystal Stair”. He does a prancing duet with Mason on “Du-Rag” and one with Thompson for a recitative of a gospel read for “His Eye Is On The Sparrow”. Hervey is muted on the warm read of “But Beautiful but is able to squeeze notes like he’s spitting out grapefruit seeds around Norris’ bowed bass on the swirling “Afro Power” and he even sings a bit on a hip Latin attraction “Smoky Cloud”. This is a guy who’s filled with ideas and energy. When’s he hitting LA?