Kirk Knuffke is a very creative trumpeter. Since moving to New York from Colorado in 2005, he has played avant-garde jazz (including with Butch Morris) and pop music in addition to working with Ideal Bread, a group dedicated to the music of
Steve Lacy.
Knuffke's recording debut as a leader ranges from free improvisations to free bop with a healthy dose of interplay between the trumpeter, trombonist Brian Drye, bassist Reuben Radding, and drummer Jeff Davis. The playing is explorative and advanced yet concise, and the music fits such song titles as "Enough," "Normal" (which is almost a blues) and "Repeat." Each of the musicians is clearly familiar with earlier jazz styles yet is uninhibited and open enough to improvise fairly freely within the confines of
Knuffke's originals. No musician overwhelms the ensembles and the results are colorful, witty, unpredictable, inventive, and swinging in their own fashion. ~ Scott Yanow