This is the second album I’ve heard by pianist/composer Connie Han, and although her album covers look like something from a graphic novel, the music is vintage Blue Note bopping grooves. She teams up with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and tenor saxist Walter Smith III for a hard hitting front line along with bassist Ivan Taylor and drummer Bill Wysaske. Pelt has fire in his brass as he sears through the torrid “Iron Starlet” with Han keeping right up with the hairpin turns, while she switches to keyboards for a hip and soulful “Nova” with the trumpeter. Smith III is warm and smoky on the CTI-ish “Hello To The Wind” and gallops like a stallion with Pelt on the avalanche of “Dark Chambers”. The trio format is tighter than Han’s leather skirt as they go through tricky and sharp tuns on “Boy Toy” and get classy on the pretty “Captain’s Song”. Han’s fingers slink on a bluesy “Mr. Dominator” and sashay to Wysaske’s brushes on the delicate “The Forsaken” with some dark moods bowed by Taylor during “Detour Ahead”. I missed her last time around in LA; I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. She might dress like a Bond girl, but she plays like Hancock!