Clarinetist
Kenny Davern is always consistent, playing swing and trad standards with creativity and in his own sound within the older pre-bop styles. This swinging trio date with a pair of excellent British jazzmen (pianist
Martin Litton and drummer John Petters) holds its own with
Davern's better-known sessions.
Litton is a fine two-handed pianist who makes the absence of a string bass irrelevant, while Petters is tasteful in support of the lead voices.
Davern shows off his remarkable ease with high notes on "Black and Blue" and is in fine form on such numbers as "You're Lucky to Me," "Willie the Weeper," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "Dinah." This CD is easily recommended to fans of the idiom and swinging clarinet. ~ Scott Yanow