Seasoned jazz pianist
Vince Benedetti is clearly fond of the Blue Note label style of hard to post-bop music, and here displays that fascination for the era with a stack of originals that could easily be covers of compositions in that golden age when in fact they are all new. Now based in Granada, Spain,
Benedetti has found some fine young talent there, much like his predecessor and main role model,
Art Blakey. In tenor saxophonist Antonio Gonzalez and trumpeter Miguel Angel Romero,
Benedetti is showcasing the Granada equivalent of
Joe Henderson and
Kenny Dorham, a most formidable horn tandem in their time. The music is an out-and-out swinging affair -- in a blindfold test, you'd be hard-pressed to find them differentiated from the
Henderson-
Dorham or
Blakey-led
Jazz Messengers bands that included
Lee Morgan and
Hank Mobley or
Wayne Shorter.
Benedetti himself is a fine composer, if not derivative, but has written some very fresh melodies that his charges play effortlessly to the letter in unison without much trouble. Dynamic changes by degrees in "Showtime," the delicious bright melody of the shuffle/swinger "Bayram," and the hummable basic line rendered as "Trane's Serenade" are all solid mainstream jazz vehicles that roll on with no dilemma. The hard bop style of "Twin Cities" really brings the old hard swinging '60s sound home to roost, while a light calypso and soul groove identifies "Compassion." There are two covers, one being
Wes Montgomery's "Mr. Walker," evincing the best groove of
Horace Silver as Romero's trumpet recalls
Morgan.
Barry Harris penned the ballad "Rouge," another feature for the tasteful brass horn of the 33-year-old. In an upbeat mood, the fleet "Galaxy" has veteran bassist Guillermo Morente and drummer Julio Perez (both well into their fifties) setting the pace in Latin and swing fever, while
Benedetti's left-hand basslines coalesce with the deft rhythms provided, enhancing them in a pronounced manner. If you gravitate toward the type of music
Benedetti and his band are reinterpreting, you should easily enjoy this set of straight-ahead jazz that never seems old or tired, refreshed by this fine ensemble of skilled players.