Beefy toned tenor saxist/clarinetist Peter Sommer brings his swinging team of Will Swindler/as-bs-cl, Al Hood/tp-fh, Paul McKee/tb, Ban Markley/p, Buoux Barbosa/b and Paul Romaine/dr in step for a toe tapping mix of originals and Ellingtonian dominated covers. The team chugs along gloriously like a steam engine on the train derived title track, with wah wahing brass leading to Sommer’s smoking sax. Billy Strayhonr’s “UMMG” features Hood’s rich horn sighing over the hip rhythm work, and Mingus’ tribute, “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” is a magisterial mix of horns and Markley’s flowing piano. The team has fun on Thelonious Monk’s angular “Misterioso” and even Sommer’s own pieces, “Shelandegins” and “Cedric Daniels” don’t break strides as Romaine snaps the team along on the latter and the leader cries with Coltrane-esque pathos on the former. Strong material and delivery, making the old sound new and the new sounding fresh.Peter Sommer Septet: Happy-Go-Lucky-Locals
Beefy toned tenor saxist/clarinetist Peter Sommer brings his swinging team of Will Swindler/as-bs-cl, Al Hood/tp-fh, Paul McKee/tb, Ban Markley/p, Buoux Barbosa/b and Paul Romaine/dr in step for a toe tapping mix of originals and Ellingtonian dominated covers. The team chugs along gloriously like a steam engine on the train derived title track, with wah wahing brass leading to Sommer’s smoking sax. Billy Strayhonr’s “UMMG” features Hood’s rich horn sighing over the hip rhythm work, and Mingus’ tribute, “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” is a magisterial mix of horns and Markley’s flowing piano. The team has fun on Thelonious Monk’s angular “Misterioso” and even Sommer’s own pieces, “Shelandegins” and “Cedric Daniels” don’t break strides as Romaine snaps the team along on the latter and the leader cries with Coltrane-esque pathos on the former. Strong material and delivery, making the old sound new and the new sounding fresh.