The New Jazz Composers Octet "Walkin' the Line"

[kdd]

Usually not much for recent recordings but liked this one a lot. Hard bop played with fire and imagination and not at all derivative to these ears. Anyone else check this out?

[sidewinder]

Yes, I have it and like it quite a bit. Also liked the previous album with Freddie H but if anything this is better. Highlight for me was Joe Chambers usual pristine contribution on track 2 ('A Little Twist'), which is a very fine David Weiss arrangement with great Craig Handy soprano solo. 'Abdullah's Demeanor' and 'The Dove' are also both intricate and thoughtfull arrangements, again with good solo work by Xavier Davis. Amazing what you can achieve with an octet given good arrangements ..

The general feel of the album reminds me a bit of Joe Chambers 'Mirrors' release on BN of a few years back and in general there's a bit of a mid-sized BN group feel to this session. Recommended !