A sophisticated showcase for his varied jazz styles,
Jeff Lorber's
He Had a Hat finds the pianist moving from softly funky pop-jazz numbers to a few straight-ahead swingers. Always an urbane and tasteful musician,
Lorber has often found a good balance between contemporary pop oriented material and more cerebral improvisational cuts, and
He Had a Hat is a prime example of this duality. To these ends, tracks like the title cut and the frenetic "Surreptitious" evince a kind of
Tower of Power meets
Brecker Brothers funk. Fittingly, trumpeter
Randy Brecker adds his supple chops to the latter track. Similarly engaging big-band numbers like "All Most Blues" and the afterglow ballad "Orchid" bring to mind both early- and late-period
Miles Davis, respectively. Also joining
Lorber here are a bevy of name artists including trumpeter
Chris Botti, vocalist
Paula Cole, saxophonist
Gerald Albright, and many others.This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. ~ Matt Collar