Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has had an impressive career straddling the worlds of acoustic and electric jazz. His last few releases have been of the hard bop/modal variety, with “Men of Honor” and “The Talented Mr. Pelt” being high water marks by any standard. This latest on has him more in the electric groove a la Miles Davis circa Filles de Kilimanjaro with keyboards supplied by David Gryant and Frank LoCrasto, drumming and drum programming by Dana Hawkins, and other intriguing sounds provided by cello (Jennifer Shaw), harp (brandee Younger), vocals (Fabiana Masili/Milton suggs) as well as standard modern jazz sounds from Roxy Coss/ss-ts-bcl and Chris Smith/b.
Moody mixes of reeds and horns on the opening “Higby Part 1” set the tone for some rich and sophisticated sounds. The strings on “Rastros” serve as a frame for Pelt and Masili, while rich keyboards gurgle along with Smith’s elastic bass on “Stars are Free.” A deep funk groove permeates “The Calm Before the Storm” creates a rich environment for Pelt’s warm tenor to glide through , while Coss’ moody bass clarinet on “The Secret Code” is lurking and mysterious. This album has the sounds of a guy with a restless spirit, which is an encouraging thing for an artist.
High Note Records