Louis Hayes – Artform Revisited (Savant)

Legendary drummer Louis Hayes is still swinging at the age of 87, and the proof comes with the release of his latest album, Artform Revisited. The artform being revisited here is BeBop, and Hayes is revisiting some of its brightest moments. Along for the ride are saxophonist Abraham Burton, vibraphonist Steve Nelson (I am so glad to see him so busy these days!), pianist David Hazeltine and bassist Dezron Douglas. Together, they groove mightily on classics written by Bird (“Cheryl,” “My Little Suede Shoes,” “Dewey Square”), Diz (“Tour de Force”), John Lewis (“Milestones”), and more. They’re not trying to reinvent anything here. This music is already brilliant as written, so when players at this level play it, it sounds great. Burton gets a spotlight feature on “You’re Looking at Me,” Nelson gets one on Billy Strayhorn’s “ A Flower is a Lovesome Thing,” and Hayes proves that he can write quite a compelling song, too on “Ruby.” The album ends on another Hayes penned original, the gutbucket blues, “G.” I like it. Some closing time blues to close out the disc. Well played, sir. Well played.

Andrew Vogt – Awakening (self-released)

Chicago bassist Andrew Vogt has a new album out (with a CD release concert at Fulton Street Collective on July 17th) called Awakening.  Like any sharp leader, Vogt has surrounded himself with a top-notch crew that allows his compositions to shine. The core band on the album is Quentin Coaxum on trumpet, Rajiv Halim on the alto sax, Dustin Laurenzi on the tenor sax, Stu Mindeman on the keys, Vogt on bass and Christian Euman on the drums. “Wes’ Waltz” is an absolutely lovely ballad. “Hammerspace,” on the other hand, absolutely cooks, with delicious solos all around, including a guest spot from guitarist Hans Luchs. “Dusk” features some always excellent singing from Sarah Marie Young, and this version of “Eleanor Rigby” is straight fire. It starts off mellow enough, but builds up a head of steam throughout its seven minute run time. What’s fascinating about Awakening is just how many twists and turns this album takes throughout its five band tracks and two bass features. It shows off the depth of Vogt’s musicianship both as a composer and as a player.

John Lee – Second Wind (Cellar Live)

If prior performance is any indication of what’s to come, then one of the easiest ways to make a really good Jazz record is to hire Peter Washington to be your bassist and Kenny Washington to be your drummer. That’s exactly what pianist John Lee did for his latest album, Second Wind. Starting off with the solidly swinging “It’s A Blue World,” the Red Garland influence is evident from nearly the first note. When we get to “Music, Music, Music,” it’s no shock that Ahmad Jamal’s arrangement is the blueprint here. And that’s a great thing. Steal from the greats, and you end up with great stuff, right? That seems to be the case we get to Lee’s originals, “Second Wind” and “Widow’s Remorse.” The former is a slow burn swinger that gives Kenny Washington plenty of room to inject his thoughts and feelings into the conversation as they groove. The latter is a nice slice of slow solo piano to wrap up the proceedings.