This combination works. Although one might expect a group with the name of "The Blue Note All Stars" to be revisiting songs associated with
Art Blakey,
Horace Silver and perhaps
Wayne Shorter, the impressive sextet sticks to new material with each member contributing one or two originals. The players (trumpeter
Tim Hagans, altoist
Greg Osby, tenor-saxophonist
Javon Jackson, pianist
Kevin Hays, bassist
Essiet Essiet and drummer
Bill Stewart) range in their individual careers from
Jackson's Joe Henderson-influenced hard bop to
Osby's attempts to fuse hip-hop with jazz, but together they successfully form a unified group sound. The music is mostly pretty complex and a logical extension of the late 60's explorations that often took place on Blue Note sessions. For example,
Bill Stewart's "Kae" has 11-bar choruses played in 7/4 and the swinging "Think Before You Think" is actually comprised of nine-bar choruses. All of the musicians play quite well and, although a melancholy mood often dominates, there are some sparkling and very fresh solos, particularly from
Osby and
Hagans. The music really needs several auditions for one to take in everything that occurs. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow