Dave Douglas (due here next month with his Tiny Bell Trio) is the free-spirited, iconoclastic young American trumpeter/composer, whose wide-ranging interests - jazz, Eastern European folk music, klezmer, Schumann, Webern, Stravinsky - and brilliant technique have already won him distinction. Here, with Chris Potter (tenor), James Genus (bass) and Ben Perowsky (drums), the accent is firmly on jazz and his own compositions; there's none of the eclecticism which might have been expected from his musical concerns. But neither is the music strictly conventional; the odd linear leaps and stark harmonies of the material are matched by a flexible approach to time and the theme-solo-theme conventions. Douglas and Potter in this ordered, yet fresh and personal context, are mutually inspirational, memorable performers, ably supported by Genus and Perowsky. By Ray Comiskey
J.J. Johnson: "Heroes" (Verve)
Trombonist Johnson's latest in this Verve series uses his working band, with Dan Faulk (saxophones) and an impeccable rhythm section - Renee Rosnes, Rufus Reid and Vic Lewis - in a programme mostly written by the leader. It's notable for the quality of the writing and the immaculate ensembles, along with some highly impressive soloing from the front line, particularly from young Faulk, a warmly adept and distinctive Coltrane disciple, on tenor and soprano. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter and Don Sickler on flugel-horn bring further colour to the music, which is book-ended with two insinuatingly attractive takes of a waltz by Johnson. Too considered to match the fire of his two Live at the Village Vanguard CDs, the album nevertheless provides splendid responses to the now seldom-played Blue In Green (from Kind Of Blue) and John Coltrane's Blue Train among its solidly crafted virtues. By Ray Comiskey
Bud Shank/Al Cohn/Zoot Sims/Phil Woods: "The Summit" (BMG Camden)
More bargains from BMG in their budget-priced double-CD reissue series. This time it's a collection of three exceptional Muse albums, all led by saxophonists; Cohn and Sims' 1973 Body & Soul, Woods' 1974 Musique du Bois and Shank's 1984 This Bud's For You, of which only the first has already been out on CD. Backed by Jaki Byard, George Duvivier and Mel Lewis, Cohn and Sims are in consistently top form, offering the usual ebulliently melodic pleasures. The Phil Woods session is one of his finest recordings, full of sublime utterances from the great altoist in Parker mode. So too is Shank, whose imagination, passion and skill are compelling evidence of his deserved eminence. By Ray Comiskey
