Jesse Davis: "First Insight" (Concord)
Alto saxophonist Davis has led a series of increasingly impressive releases on Concord, of which this is the sixth and, in some respects, possibly the best. Recorded last September, it reunites him with pianist Mulgrew Miller and guitarist Peter Bernstein from a couple of the previous albums, but adds two faces new to the mix in the great bassist, Ron Carter, along with the demanding drumming of Kenny Washington. In terms of influences, nothing has changed; Davis remains clearly by Cannonball Adderley out of Charlie Parker, the fertile product of a marriage of elegance and passion, expressed with considerable virtuosity. But the saxophonist's playing, though derivative, has reached a depth and inventiveness beyond anything he has previously recorded; he wrote all the material, which probably helps, but Carter, Washington and Miller also push him to fresh heights.
Ray Comiskey
Donny McCaslin: "Exile and Discovery" (Naxos)
The latest on this budget label is an accomplished debut as leader for a young tenor saxophonist who has worked with, among others, Gary Burton, and the Maria Schneider and Mingus big bands. Made with a high-calibre rhythm section - Bruce Barth (piano), Ugonna Okegwo (bass) and the great Billy Drummond (drums) - it's a mixture of straight-ahead jazz standards, with probing, stimulating solos, imaginatively spiced with intelligently conceived new material. McCaslin claims he's "an avowed eclectic", but there's no evidence to show him as a musical magpie; his style is identifiably homogenous, the synthesis coming from Sonny Rollins, obviously a major influence. The quality of his solo-ing and the splendid support he gets lift this session above the usual run. Recommended.
Ray Comiskey
Louie Bellson: "The Art of The Chart" (Concord)
This is full-throttle, punchy, in-your-face big band jazz served up by a leader whose experience embraces Ellington, Basie and Goodman. The roots, therefore, remain swing era, but Bellson's taste in arrangers runs to later practitioners such as Thad Jones, Bill Holman, Ernie Wilkins and Bob Florence, all of who are represented here, with charts full of more modern voicings and graced by much more complex contrapuntal writing than those roots might suggest. And though half of the album's 12 arrangements come from the more-than-competent Tommy Newsom, with a further piece from Jack Hayes, it is Jones, Holman and Florence, in particular, who provide the meat in the sandwich. The band is awesomely good; the way it responds to the demands of Jones's Your Wake Up Call, with brilliant section work and excellent solos, or to Holman's Quiet Riot, is a virtual definition of drummer Bellson's musical credo.
Ray Comiskey
