Jorge Nila is my kind of tenor saxist; he’s got a big and beefy tone that rolls in like the fog at Fisherman’s Wharf. Even better, he uses it here as a tribute to the muscular saxists of the heyday, such as Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins and even the more obscure Harold Vick, who was a shooting star in the late 40s for JATP.
Best of all, Nila presents the songs in a classic B3 format with Hammondmeister Mitch Towne along with swinging guitarist Dave Stryker and deep groover Dana Murray on drums. The team gives a neck swaying backbeat for a bluesy “Fried Bananas” and the relaxed gospel swayer “Soul Station” with Nila preacing from the Baptist pulpit. Stryker is wonderfully lyrical for “On A Misty Night” and soulful as he locks in with Murray on Stevie Wonder’s “Rocket Love.” Nila rides Murray’s cymbals like a longboarder on the bopping take of Sonny Stitt’s “The Eternal Triangle” and is a greasy as a Tommy’s Burger on the boogieing “Our Miss Brooks.” This is how a tenor is supposed to sound, ladies and gents!