Trumpeter Lew Soloff (1948 - ) might have cut his musical teeth with jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears during the late '60s (one's got to pay the rent somehow), but he is a jazzman to the bone. His collaborations read like a jazz Who is Who including the likes of Machito, Gil Evans, Tony Scott, Tito Puente, Clark Terry, Mongo Santamaria, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, the Gil Evans Big Band, Stanley Clarke, Jon Faddis, Sonny Stitt, Stanley Turrentine, Bill Evans, Carla Bley, Ray Anderson, Franco Ambrosetti, Ornette Coleman, Tony Bennett, Louie Bellson, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, the Bohuslän Big Band, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet and last but not least the George Russell Big Band (see previous post).
This 1998 offering teams up Lew with a dream rhythm section consisting of pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis as well as Emily Mitchell, Soloff's wife, playing the harp (the Harpo Marx type, not the harmonica) on two of the nine album cuts, one of which is a movement from a Tchaikovsky symphony.
Needless to say that the interplay between these top musicians is top-notch (pun intended) as embedded track Come Rain Or Come Shine amply demonstrates. Material is painstakingly chosen and sequenced to provide that winter-by-the-fireplace-holding-a-glass-of-brandy CD so rare nowadays, enjoy.
*this post is dedicated to my dear friend L.
