Isrea Butler: Congo Lament

Any jazzer who uses Ike Quebec as an inspiration for an album is all right in my book. Isrea Butler takes some time off from the Count Basie Orchestra for a vintage hard bopping album with Douglas Lawrence/ts, David Loeb/p, Steve Flora/b and Bob Chimei/dr. The band focuses on tunes associated wit Quebec’s days with Blue Note Records, and Lawrence was the right choice for the sax role, as his horn blows Quebec-like smoke rings throughout, laying down riffs on “Congo Lament” and sizzling over the blues, as on “Shuffle”. Butler has a warm buttery tone, gliding on the Latin lover ‘BG’s Groove Two” and having a hoot of a time on “Pennie’s From Heaven”. There’s soulful bliss on “Que’s Pills” and the horns sway like a Sunday Baptist choir on “See See Rider”. When are these guys hitting the road?!?

www.isreabutler.com

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