Origin Records
2004
Art Of The Groove
About This Album
Alto sax player Brent Jensen here releases his third album, now in combination with flugelhornist Rob Walker. The theme of Art of the Groove is creations based on the many stylings of Miles Davis, with the compositions stacked with originals from the pair. The album opens up with a bit of hard bop derived from a solo on a recording of "Straight, No Chaser," where they fuse a little West Coast cool jazz in for good measure. "It Could Happen to You" is the first of two standards on the album, this one going for the sound of the classic quintet days. Building from an Art Blakey perspective, Art of the Groove (see the pun?) plays out some more hard bop to the listener's delight, complete with excellent solos courtesy of Walker and pianist Marc Seales, as well as the requisite Blakey-inspired drumming courtesy of John Bishop. "Evan's Pen" gives Seales some more room to stretch out and show his ability to shift into any style he likes with touches of Keith Jarrett throughout. Breaking out of the Davis idiom for a bit, the group shifts into a bit of a samba (though even out of the idiom, there are still features of the group sound popping out from time to time).
Track List (try tracks 2,4,6 and 7)

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