Warren Wolf: ST (2011)

Vibraphonist Warren Wolf has a light and dexterous sound that makes this album an appealing mainstream jazz experience. He in joined on this recording by Christian McBride on bass, Peter Martin on piano, Greg Hutchinson on drums, Tim Green on alto and soprano saxophone, and Jeremy Pelt sits in on trumpet for a few tracks. Opening with “427 Mass. Ave." the music is upbeat with a touch of funk and nice drumming. Pelt adds some punchy trumpet to the festivities, and there is a fine elastic bass solo in addition to vibes and drums interplay. The fast paced hard-bop continues on “Sweet Bread" with deeply swinging vibes and strong saxophone. Deeply rounded saxophone and drums with vibes accenting carries “Eva" with potent saxophone and percussive vibe solos highlighted. The dynamic “Katrina" begins appropriately with a haunted melancholy feel, before developing dynamically with fast and percussive vibraphone. Powerful saxophone and a deeply elastic bass feature drive the music through to its conclusion. Full blast bebop oriented jazz is the order of the day on “One for Lenny" opening with a rapid bass solo, and then moving into a lightning fast vibes and bass feature. After a fast and nimble saxophone solo, McBride gets a nice bowed bass feature backed by light mallet accents. This was a fine all around album, sure to appeal to mainstream jazz enthusiasts. The band was comfortable and impressive at any speed from bop to ballads and worked very well together.

Warren Wolf endearingly admits to being "kind of flashy" and he certainly does get around on both vibraphone and marimba. There's a lot more than mere flash about his playing, though. No matter how fast and complex his improvisations, there is a clear thread of unfolding melody, spiced with harmonic ingenuity. At 31, this is his debut album as a leader, although he's been attracting attention with Christian McBride's band since 2007. Wolf is a forceful, even rugged, player compared with, say, Gary Burton and just listening to him can leave you a bit boggle-eyed, but he's a musician to be reckoned with, no doubt about it.

Tracklist:
01. 427 Mass Ave
02. Natural Beauties
03. Sweet Bread 6:03
04. How I Feel At This Given Moment
05. Eva
06. Senor Mouse
07. Emily
08. Katrina
09. One For Lenny
10. Intimate Dance
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Jeremy Pelt: Talented Mr. Pelt (2011)

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has established himself as one of the go-to musicians on trumpet and flugelhorn in the modern mainstream jazz scene. His yearly albums from the High Note label are postcards of classy hard bop played with great facility and style. On this album he is accompanied by J.D. Allen  on tenor saxophone, Danny Grissett  on piano, Dwayne Burno  on bass and Gerald Cleaver  on drums. They take off at a medium tempo on the opening “Pandora's Box" echoing the classic Blue Note Records sound of the 1960's (not surprising since this album was recorded by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder) taking round-robin solos that are immaculately played. Gerald Cleaver makes his presence felt on a couple of the albums finest tracks. First “Paradise Lost" has his strong drumming urging along a mid-tempo groove, and interacting with the trumpet and saxophone in a very dynamic way. On the album's fast paced finale, “David and Goliath," he again proves his mettle establishing an excellent pocket with Bruno for a strong and lightning fast hard bop improvisation. The band tackles ballad material in a subtle and mannered fashion, as on “In Love Again" where spare piano and subtle muted brass conjure a lonely, romantic vibe. Breathy trumpet that is slow and patient glides through the ballad “All My Thoughts Are of You." This is a solid and well played slice of modern hard bop, which mainstream jazz fans will find quite accessible and entertaining. The band plays with panache and a thoughtful energy that makes for a successful recording.

Tracklist:
01 Pandora's box
02 All my thoughts are of you
03 Paradise lost
04 When the time is right 05 Pulse
06 In love again
07 Only
08 David and Goliath
Personnel:
Jermey Pelt Trumpet
J.D. Allen Saxophone
Danny Grissett Piano
Dwayne Burno Bass
Gerald Cleaver Drums
Talented Mr. Pelt
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