Drummer Billy Mintz leads from behind a team of John Gross/ts, Roberta P iket/p-B3 and Putter Smith through a dozen of his wide ranging originals. The moods range from Coltranesque spirituals (“Ugly Beautiful”) to free from (“Dit”), but with all things tenor, the band sounds best on ballads and blues. Gross gives a sensitive and rich treatment on the horn as he dances with Piket on the fragrant “Haunted” and the gentle “Beautiful You” with “”Destiny” filled with moments of the tenor sax caressing the lyrical melody as the leader supplies subtle but essential dashes of percussion. Piket pulls out the B3 for a grooving “Beautiful” and gets assertive with Mintz on “After Retribition” while giving a tip of the hat to McCoy Tyner on the dramatic “Relent,” and even singing a dash on a track. Impressive post modern sounds.
Thirteenth Note Records
www.thirteenthnoterecords.com