One of the masters of the hard bopping trombone, Steve Turre brings together an impressive cast of Nicholas Payton/tp, Ron Blake/ts, Isaiah J. Thompson/p, Buster Williams/b and Lenny White/dr for a bicep flexing recording from gigs recorded August 3-6 at Smoke Jazz Club last year. The team is filled with swagger, with Blake’s Don Byas-ish tenor leading the charge with Turren on “Snyas” and Thompson in a peppy mood for “All The Things You Are”. Turre’s mute is in glorious form on “Wishful Thinking” and his shells shine along with a buccinator’d Payton blasting through Lee M organ’s Mr. Kenyatta”. Turre plunges lower than Beyonce’s neckline on a get down funky groove of “These Foolish Things” as White and Williams snap out a backbeat for the ages. Why can’t LA get gigs like this?