Step By Step

A deftly melodic pianist with an ear writing for lush arrangements, Terry Lower has long been the consummate sideman supplying his lithe improvisational touch and superb arranging skills to bandleaders across Michigan and beyond. On Lower's superb 2005 solo effort Step by Step, we find the journeyman pianist leading a stellar cadre of similarly-minded post-boppers through an urbane and fiery set of originals and standards. Joining Lower here are bassist Ray Tini, drummers Larry Ochiltree and Jim "Shaft" Ryan, as well as trumpeter Rob Smith, trombonist Earlie Braggs and saxophonist Doug Horn. Often reminiscent of the high-energy groups of the late drummer Art Blakey, Lower's group tackles his own crisp and well-balanced septet original compositions including the boppish "Seabiscuit" and the Latin inspired "Sobwena." Changing gears, Lower also delivers some more intimate moments as on his funky, blues-inflected, afterglow trio take on the ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is" and the elegiac "Cry Me a River." This is great modern jazz.