Artistry Jazz Group

Too Darn Hot,Volenza ***

Cole Porter tributes are rare nowadays, and if this one isn’t, perhaps, hot enough for some jazz fans, it is a stylish, tasteful, ingratiatingly swinging nod to the great words-and-music man. The AJG is led by pianist Jan Lundgren, who chose and arranged the material for himself, Jacob Fischer (guitar), Hans Backenroth (bass), Johan Löfcrantz Ramsay (drums) and, on five tracks, Vivian Buczek, who delivers the vocals with an effective, unfussy directness. That suits the necessarily limited parameters of the tribute, within which the quintet, all among the top Scandinavian mainstreamers, do a fine job. Porter aficionados will find no surprises in the choice of songs, but At Long Last Love, It’s All Right With Me, I Happen to Be in Love and Down in the Depths of the Ninetieth Floor groove buoyantly, and the piano/bass duet of In the Still of the Night is a gem. See volenza.se