Here’s a guy with the heart of an old soul. I got into saxist/vocalist Bob Mover when I heard his film nourish It Amazes Me back in ’08. He sounds like he’s lived it, which is a lot more than these $200,000 in debt music school graduates can say. Here, he’s put out a double disc set, with two different moods, and it’s a keeper.
Disc one has him on alto, tenor and soprano with a top notch team of Kenny Barron/p, Bob Cranswhaw/b and Steve Williams/Victor Lewis/dr on a collection of standards that has Mover caressing the lyrics to things like ‘You’ve Changed” and “You Must Believe in Spring.” His voice is a gentle sandy gravel, but he stays on key and in the pocket, and you feel like he’s letting you in on a secret when he delivering the words, sort of like a watch salesman in Times Square. His soprano is clean on “By Myself,” and his tenor is as warm as a Texas sideman throughout, while his alto has a Konitz-like litheness. A mood for the last set of the night
The second disc has him leading a band that includes a thicker horn section with either/and Josh Evans/tp and Steve Hall/ts, and the tunes are more akin to a mix of vintage adventurous Blue Note and a good night with Charlie Mingus’ small bands (which makes sense, since he played with him back in the day). Lots of curves, changeups and knuckleballs are thrown around on tunes like the Mal Waldron’s bopping “Dee’s Dilemma.” Mover’s own “Survival of the Sickest” features Hall’s Wayne Shorterish tenor, and Kenny Dorham’s “ Fair Weather” features Evans’ clean horn melding with the leader’s gentle voice. A rollicking “Carmen’s Calypso” has everyone sounding chummy, closing these two hours of wonderful music with the toes tapping. Another delight from a Second Hand Lion.
Motema Records
www.motema.com