A former Jazz Messenger who has also performed with the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine and the Dave Holland Quintet, trombonist
Robin Eubanks' Sirocco Jazz debut is also the first recording for the British label. For this recording
Eubanks gathered a group of old friends, alto saxophonist
Antonio Hart, bassist
Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer
Gene Jackson, plus newcomers pianist
Eric Lewis and trumpeter
Duane Eubanks,
Robin's younger brother, to perform a program of three originals, four jazz classics, two of them by
Wayne Shorter, and the standard "You Are Too Beautiful."
Eubanks' big sound, improvisational imagination, and genre-crossing versatility have made him one of the busier trombonists on the jazz scene, with
Eubanks staying in a modern post-bop vein for this recording. Favorites include the two Shorter compositions, "United," given an Afro-Latin treatment here, and "Oriental Folk Song," staying close to the original, with "Elvinish" feel courtesy of Jackson and the head played by trumpet and trombone. Other favorites include
Eubanks' compositions, the beautiful "Soliloquy," the frantic title track, based on a rapid repeating figure played by trombone and alto sax, and the up-tempo blues "Rush Hour." A welcome addition to the
Eubanks discography.