Here’s a fun loving disc with a top notch rhythm section of Anthony Wilson/g, John Clayton/b and Jeff Hamilton/dr lead by the thick textured but flexible baritone sax of Adam Schroeder. Schroeder dances like Nureyev on the bouncing “Hello Bright Sunflower” while Hamilton uses his brushes like Cezanne and Wilson supplies tasty treats on the guitar. The band can also drive like Del Unser as on “A Hawkeye, A Hoosier, & Two Cali Cat’s which includes Clayton delivering the goods on a hip solo. Boppers like the title track and smokers like “The Smulyan Spectacles” get the hoops and hollars, but just like in golf, it’s the short game that gets the money. Dainty and delicate mixing of horn and guitar make “You and I” a treat, while pastoral elegance exudes like a perfume on “Patient Endurance, Stead Hope.” Schroeder shows his London Fog of a sound on a wonderful duet with a bowed Clayton on “Contemplation, while he sounds gloriously laconic on “In The Middle of a Kiss.” Lots to love here!
Capri Records Ltd