At the time this was recorded, you could count the number of competent women jazz trombonists on the fingers of one hand. Without question,
Sarah Morrow is a competent trombonist, but this recording does not place her in the best light. Prosaic solos and commonplace performances fail to light many fires (despite her declarations to the contrary on the opening spoken word track), and her compositions, while firmly rooted in the jazz mainstream, add nothing that has not already been tried before.
Morrow's style comes straight from the line of
J.J. Johnson forward, and her attractive, full, and burnished tone does often hit the mark, even if her imagination is somewhat limited. To her credit, her muted sound adds an appealing dimension, and her balladry on "You Don't Know What Love Is" is more than adequate.
Morrow rarely compromises her art, and there are plenty of pleasant, if less than totally fulfilling moments. The usually fluid
Antoine Roney sounds as though he is only going through the motions.
Morrow shows creative potential, and there is some very fine work contributed by her rhythm section, particularly the dynamic pianist,
James Hurt. All in all, though, there are better examples of modern jazz trombone available.