Most of the recordings put out by the German Nagel-Heyer label are pre-bop, ranging from Dixieland to mainstream. This outing stretches the boundaries a little, for trumpeter
Randy Sandke (who is joined by tenor saxophonist
Harry Allen and a big band led by
Jiggs Whigham) pays tribute to a variety of great trumpeters ranging from
Louis Armstrong to
Woody Shaw ("The Moontrane") and
Freddie Hubbard ("Bird Like").
Sandke contributed a pair of originals, arranged all 13 pieces, and helped bring a forgotten (and only partly composed)
Bix Beiderbecke composition ("Cloudy") to life. In addition to those mentioned,
Sandke pays tribute to
Cootie Williams,
Roy Eldridge, and
Bunny Berigan, among others. He hints at their styles without actually copying them, and has a flexible enough approach to sound comfortable in all of the idioms. Recommended. [This is the same album as Music of the Trumpet Kings.]~ Scott Yanow