Add a plus to the STQ, as they complement their five-piece with additional musicians. The core band -- Cincinnati's Mike Wade on trumpet,
Kevin Engel on alto and tenor sax,
Khalid Moss on piano,
Eric Sayer on bass, and Kight Butler or
Francis Wyatt on drums -- is joined on occasion by electric bass guitarist Larry Humphrey and percussionist Craig Wlliams. They play music out of the Blue Note style post-bop of
Horace Silver or Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and do it very well with an all-original program. Wade is a dyed-in-the-wool
Lee Morgan fan, and it shows in his playing and compositions. "Blues for Shorty Bop" is an easy blues swing typical of Silver. A long, cascading piano flow from Moss, the star of this show, introduces a crashing drum solo to a racing quick "Samba for Bill" with more Horace-isms. Engel contributed the bookend shorties "Ode to Bontuku" in beats of six and five into a lilting paraphrase, as well as three others. "Sometimes It Just Happens" and "This Is for All You Rhythm Guys" are both tick-tock based, the former a simple trumpet/tenor line welded to an old staccato R&B phrase, the latter a more hard bop tune. "Tears for a Melancholy Smile" is the slow, obligatory wistful ballad with horns trading lines. Moss has two compositions credited: "Attitude" is an
Art Blakey-type bopper with modal piano set-ups on a traipsing melody contrasting in a different key, and with a hefty solo from Engel and extroverted trumpet by Wade; "Big Shoat" is a 7/8 to complex funky swing with lines that leapfrog. The lone non-STQ writing comes from the pen of Guido Sinclair on the title track, as Humphrey's flamenco-flavored popping intro leads to ostinato hip caravan funk with slight synth washes and an elongated melody line prior to solos that surge well forward, over 12 minutes. This band has a genuinely forthright mainstream jazz concept that should be explored further, either in performance, if you're fortunate enough to catch up to them, or with a follow-up CD to this very fine debut. Recommended.