NEW RELEASES - BOB BROOKMEYER, CHICO HAMILTON, ORRIN EVANS

BOB BROOKMEYER FEATURING JOHN WILLIAMS & RED MITCHELL

Wonderful work from trombonist Bob Brookmeyer – a record that easily stands next to some of his best Verve recordings of the 50s! The core of the set features Bob Brookmeyer in quartet mode, working with John Williams on piano, Frank Isola on drums, and either Bill Anthony or Red Mitchell on bass. The group's got a very Getz-like approach – one that's clean and modern, but with a looseness that's different from the way a west coast combo might have handled the material. Bob's horn is great throughout – blowing cleanly, but with a good deal of feeling – miles from the more trad modes of other trombonists of the mainstream at the time, and really sparkling on a set of tunes that includes "Last Chance", "Red Devil", "The Blues", "Doe Eyes", and "Liberty Bell". Two more tracks – "Slow Freight" and "Brook's Blues" – feature a great lineup with Bob on piano – alongside Jim Hall on guitar, Ralph Pena on bass, and Dave Bailey on drums – plus guest tenor from Jimmy Giuffree on one track, played in a way that's a great reminder he can hit a soulful, bluesy tone when he wants to! ~ Dusty Groove

CHICO HAMILTON – THE GREAT CHICO HAMILTON FEATURING PAUL HORN

An obscure release by Chico Hamilton – but with some really great moments that more than rival his famous sides for Pacific Jazz in the 50s! The set was issued on the obscure Crown label, and is a bit short on notes – but side one features work by Chico's early trio – a cool group with either Howard Roberts or Jim Hall on guitar, and George Duvivier on bass – really sounding open and airy, yet swinging too – on titles that include "Nutty", "Skinned Strings", "Street Of Drums", and "Blues On The Rocks" – played by a group that seems to feature bass, drums, and guitar. Even better, though, is side two, which features the more complicated "Suite For Horn" – a long piece built around the flute work of Paul Horn – presented here with a shorter track called "Montuna", which is mostly just heavy percussion, bass, and very noisy cello from Fred Katz! ~ Dusty Groove

ORRIN EVANS – FLIP THE SCRIPT

Exactly the kind of bold, powerful album that pianist Orrin Evans does so well – stretching out strongly, yet never going too far to swing – driving his trio here with a great deal of force, and definitely reminding us that the pianist is in the lead! Evans' touch on the keys is amazing – ringing out with clarity of vision right from the start – and although he gets very able support from Ben Wolfe on bass and Donald Edwards on drums, it's almost as of Orrin's ringing out all on his own, and drawing the rhythms along in the process! Titles include "When", "Big Small", "Clean House", "Flip The Script", and "Question". ~ Dusty Groove