E-motion

Tenor saxophonist Rich Perry and pianist Harold Danko have been frequent collaborators on recording dates stretching back to when both men played together in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. But they've each led numerous sessions for Steeplechase, playing on each other's dates and regularly working clubs with a quartet that included drummer Jeff Hirschfield and bassist Jay Anderson (the latter who returns to the group for this recording). Adding a Latin pulse to Charlie Parker's "Dewey Square" takes this decades-old bop vehicle in a new direction, while the tense setting of Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" opens with an intricate duet by Perry and Danko. Drawing from Thad Jones' produced two gems, a lush take of the popular ballad "A Child Is Born," and the equally appealing (if much less widely known) "The Summery." This very relaxing session is full of magical moments, it will be of great appeal to anyone familiar with Rich Perry's earlier works.