Three-Five

For this 2008 session, trombonist Vincent Gardner expands to a sextet with his brother Derrick Gardner on trumpet, saxophonist Mark Gross, pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Greg Williams, and drummer Ali Jackson. While most of the composers of the eight jazz tunes heard on this date will be familiar, a number of them are rather infrequently recorded, with the repertoire coming either from that of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, or fitting its style. The band quickly gets into a solid groove with Wayne Shorter's swaggering hard bop vehicle "Sweet ‘N' Sour," with punchy solos by both horns and Gross on alto sax. Tommy Turrentine's infectious 5/4 blues "Long as You're Living" is another hidden gem beautifully played by the sextet. The modern New Orleans drummer James Black penned the challenging neo-bop piece "Dee Wee," in which Gardner pays homage to trombone master J.J. Johnson. Williams introduces Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere" with a soulful, gospel-inflected walking solo, while the leader's stagger-step arrangement adds something new to this popular tune. The sole standard is a rollicking, humorous, uptempo interpretation of "I'll Never Smile Again." Recommended.