The guitarist Hugh Buckley has been overshadowed here by the imposing musical presence of Louis Stewart, and by the more adventurous Mike Nielsen and Tommy Halferty, a situation which does little justice to his considerable talent.
Recorded in New York last September with two front-rank American bop exponents, James Williams (piano) and Peter Washington (bass), the brilliant young Irish drummer, Darren Beckett, now NYC-based, and Buckley's cousin, Richie, guesting on tenor, his debut as leader is a ringing affirmation of how good he has become. With a fine technique, a rich vein of ideas, a gorgeous tone and excellent time, the guitarist is probably the most impressive soloist, along with the tenor, on an album full of straight ahead, compulsively swinging jazz.
UMO Jazz Orchestra (Naxos)
Finland's UMO Jazz Orchestra has become one of the best and most forward-looking of big bands around, acclaimed by talents as diverse as Bob Brookmeyer, Benny Carter and the late Dizzy Gillespie and Gil Evans. Precise and powerful, the band is, on the evidence of this release, elusive of stylistic definition, its material challenging and diverse, featuring among others the work of the outstanding Finnish composer, arranger and saxophonist, Eero Koivistoinen; his take on Miles Davis's All Blues is a creative, if not entirely persuasive, response to a classic. The band is graced by excellent soloists, particularly Manuel Dunkel (tenor), Anders Bergcrantz (trumpet/flugelhorn) and Seppo Kantonen (piano), but the abiding impression is of the sheer quality of the orchestra and its ability to do justice to the demands placed on it by the kaleidoscopic writing. And at budget price, it's a bargain.
Eddie Thompson: "Ain't She Sweet" (HEP)
The late Eddie Thompson was an enormously gifted pianist and, at times, a pugnaciously assertive soloist who left you in no doubt about his high opinion of himself. What it meant - besides the fact that he could always deliver - was that his personality tended to permeate, if not dominate, groups he played in. Since his preferred options were the piano trio (or simply solo piano), that wasn't difficult for someone as good as he was. And he was a class act, as this reissue of one of his best trio albums proves. Dating from 1978 and benefiting from a superb rhythm section completed by Len Skeat (bass) and Martin Drew (drums), it's simply a set of standards taken to the cleaners to extract as much uncomplicatedly swinging jazz as possible from them. Good as Skeat and Drew are, there's no doubt about who's the boss, either on this or the six additional tracks, equally enjoyable, from a 1976 trio date.
