Drummer
Art Lillard has been leading a band in New York for decades, though he was little known elsewhere until his first CD for Summit. For this release, he switches from a big band to a quartet with pianist
Jon Davis, saxophonist
Danny Walshb and bassi
Marco Panascia, mixing originals by the band's members with pop songs and standards.
Lillard's "If I Can" is a light-hearted, swinging opener featuring
Walsh's robust tenor.
Davis' stunning reworking of
Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" is set up with a brooding vamp and adds a Latin undercurrent, while
Walsh switches to soprano for a delicious take of
Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood."
Lillard and
Davis jointly arranged the standard "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," stretching its possibilities far past typical charts, though "If I Were a Bell" is more conventional in its approach.
Walsh sits out the breezy trio interpretation of
Henry Mancini's "Mister Lucky."
The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" has infrequently been explored in a jazz setting, but
Davis' setting of this pop ballad reveals its potential, featuring
Walsh's melancholy alto. Recommended.