The comfort food of jazz has always been the B3 trio with guitar and drums. Pat Bianchi teams up with guitarist Paul Bollenback and drummer Byron Landham with guest tenor saxist Wayne Escoffery (making for the comfort food of quartets) on this album that is a fun tribute to the pen and soul of Motown Man Stevie Wonder.
What’s intriguing about this session is that Bollenback occasionally eschews the usual electric guitar for the more acoustic nylon strings, and it works surprisingly well. There’s a lyrical “Until You Come Back To Me” and a lush “Moon Blue” that are enticing, and the strings hold there own over Landham’s busy sticks on the graceful “If It’s Magic”. Plugged in, the guitarist is off to the races on Bianchi’s “Just Callin”, and shuffles to Landham’s sizzle on “Isn’t She Lovely”. Bianchi pulls the plugs all the way out for Escoffrey’s bel canto strut for “Superstition” and the quartet gets cozy on the big sounding “Something To Day”. An album well signed, sealed and delivered.
Savant Records