Bassist Matt Dwonszyk delivers a salute to legendary Hartford, Connecticut pianist Don DePalma, who succumbed to the effects of COVID a few years ago.
The music here is a reflection of that celebration, bringing together sessions of DePalma in a mix and match former band mates including all stars such as trombonist Steve Davis, vocalist Linda Ransom as well as Tony Davis/g, Rose Roy/tb, Joshua Bruneau/tp-fh, Kris Jensen/ts-fl, Curtis Torian-Jonathan Barber/dr, Nelson Bello/perc and Dwonszyk himself.
DePalma has a powerful swing to his feel, bubbling over with energy as aptly displayed on a sizzling take of “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” the rides like a roller coaster with both Davis searing with energy. A collection of tunes with Donny’s name included have Jensen sauntering with the trombonist on “It’s Donny Time”, Torian hammering the ride cymbal on the bluesy “Donny’s Blues” and some wacka wooka soul stirring around Bruneau’s horn on “Donny Time”.
Ransom sizzles around Dwonszyk on the shuffling shouter “4 Old Man” gets lovely on a gracious “The More I See You” and boogies through “What A Difference A Day Makes”, while Alexis Roy delivers a gentle poem around Jensen’s flute during “Dancing On The Driveway”. DePalma can hit eight to the bar with the best, take you to the church on time and boogaloo with the best throughout, glowing with elegance on a classy “Lastly”. This album reminds us all how many great in-home talents are in our very own neighborhood, eschewing a life on the road for a life of local musical friendships. A well thought trade off, and we outside New England finally get to hear what we’ve been missing.
Not only is the music worthwhile to take in, but the proceeds of this album go to the DePalma Roy Scholarship fund in order to help students attending the local Music College.