The combination of saxist Benjamin Boone and vocalist Philip Levine give a second take of jazz poems on this successful and artsy release. The team of Davis Aus-Craig Von Berg/p, Spee Kosloff-Nye Morton/b and Gary Newmark-Brian Hamada/dr is augmented by horns, violin and Karen Marguth’s voice, getting dreamy on instrumentals “Yakov” and driving with assertion for the left of center “They Feed The Lion” with Boone’s soprano giving rich lyricism to “Godspell.”
Levine mixes poetry with narration, bluesy with Von Berg on “An Ordinary Morning,” eerie on “Belle Isle” and quirky for “The Poem Circling…” as he gives rich form on the spacious “Let Me Begin Again.” The band sometimes creates a background frame while alternating with serving as a co-leader as on “The Simple Truth.” Pictures hanging in a gallery.