Darrell Grant Quintet - The New Bop

On Darrell Grant's second Criss Cross release he joins forces with two labelmates (tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake and trumpeter Scott Wendholt) and frequent collaborators (bassist Calvin Jones and drummer Brian Blade) to create the classic quintet configuration that provides the foundation for The New Bop, music rooted in the hard bop/post-bop tradition with a '90s perspective. The focus here is on Grant's writing, as eight of the 12 compositions are his, influenced by the "larger than a quintet" sound similar to the Horace Silver Quintet of the '50s and '60s. All of the musicians are in fine form with Blake's tenor sax shining most brightly, especially on a spirited, bluesy reading of Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday." Other favorites include the angular, up-tempo title track, "The Blues We Ain't No More" (a medium swinger with an unusually fragmented melody), "Struttin' to Tangiers" (a melody that combines Eastern flavor with a swing feel), and the energetic, Latin-influenced "Agua Profunda." One of 1995's best releases.

New Bop Review by Greg Turner