Matt Hall swings his trombone like it was hanging from a tree with his snappy team of Charlie Arbelaez/as, Louis Valenzuela/g, Jason Shattil/p, Mackenzie Leighton/b and Kevin Kanner/dr through a mix of originals.
Hall shows his impressive chops on his dramatic “3G” that leads in to the fun cruise of his own “Charlie’s Harley”. The band is reminiscent of vintage Jazz Messengers as Kanner and Leighton lay down an easy hard bop shuffle on “Biscuits & Gravy” and strut under Valenzuela’s clean guitar lines on the bluesy “The Thing About Sloan Hill”. Shattil’s fingers dance on the ivories under Hall’s big brass on the pretty read of “Deep In A Dream” while Arbelaez sears through Kanner’s traffic like a Formula 1 driver as he digs deep on “Spearhead”. Classic sounds that sound as fresh as this morning’s freshly baked almond flavored croissant.