Jimmy Halperin has made some wonderful records in the last few years, especially when doing the music of Monk and Coltrane. Today we backtrack to an earlier goodie, an album of classic numbers, Joy and Gravitas (CIMP 301). It's Halperin on soprano and tenor, Dominic Duval on bass, and Jay Rosen on drums. This is a great combination. Halperin is a very lucid improviser on both horns and has plenty to say on these numbers; Jay Rosen gives his usual impeccably subtle but driving loosely free drum accompaniment and Mr. Duval sounds as always earthy and bursting with ideas. They tackle chestnuts like "Night in Tunisia" but also less traveled gems too like the Billie Holiday torcher "Don't Explain" and Jimi Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic."
This one may not quite reach the heights of some of the more recent Halperin sojourns, but it also has a wide-ranging inside-outside diversity that will make it an appealing listen to those who are less likely to seek flat-out energy drives for their listening pleasure.
Highly recommended.
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