Exclusive Magazine

by Russell Trunk

Opening on the gently frenetic CHYTHM RANGES (and based on George Gershwins I Got Rhythm) and the more relaxed title track BEST BUDDIES (which is based on Benny Golson’s Stablemates), they are backed by the playfully perky EVIL EYE (based on Matt Dennis popular song from 1946, Angel Eyes), the short, but oh-so sweet ZEENA (itself based on a small portion of Dizzy Gillespies A Night In Tunisia), and then we get the foot-tapper A NEW PORPOISE (based on Bronislaw Kapers On Green Dolphin Street) and a magnificent ballad treatment comes to the fore on PHO TWENNY (which is itself a treatment over Gene de Paul’s jazz standard, Ill Remember April.

Next up is the Coltrane-esque waltz found within my own personal favorite here, KING OF HEARTS (where the melodies harmonic structure is centered on Cole Porters classic My Heart Belongs To Daddy) which is followed by the scattish HALFWAY HOUSE IN C MAJOR (based on Cole Porters What Is This Thing Called Love), with the album coming to an all-too-soon close on the all-out jam fest of yet another stand out track, OVERLOOK (which is itself based on Harold Arlens classic My Shining Hour).