Softly

The mellow-toned flugelhornist Jackie Coon is some ways a successor to Bobby Hackett. His style is lyrical; one can always hear the melody in his solos, and he plays quietly. On this CD, he is mostly heard in the best possible setting, leading a quartet also including pianist Johnny Varro, bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Ed Metz Jr. Two songs add the team of trombonist Dan Barrett and tenor saxophonist Rick Fay (all three horn players sing on "Four or Five Times"), and two other tunes find trombonist John Allred making the group a quintet. Mostly though, the focus is on Coon's cool horn. He digs into a variety of swing standards, with the highlights including "You Took Advantage of Me," "Avalon," "Tangerine" and "I Would Do Anything for You." Lightly swinging and subtle music.