Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project
The latest album from Seth Kibel and Bay Jazz Project, Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project, was released a couple of days ago on 19th July on Azalea City Recordings.
The multi-award winning Seth Kibel never fails to surprise with his recordings, being one of the most versatile wind players on the East Coast. From klezmer to American folk to jazz and just about anything in between, Kibel does it all with great panache. This latest offering with Bay Jazz Project is a straight-ahead album that swings delightfully hard. Together with his excellent crew of pianist Sean Lane, bassist Bob Abbott, drummers Mark Lucas (certain tracks) and Wes Crawford (certain tracks), as well as delightful singer Justine Miller on a couple of tracks, Kibel delivers something a bit special and very classy in Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project.
Incidentally, Kibel here lets his excellent clarinet take something of a back seat to highlight his equally superb tenor and flute. On Blues for Brandwein (a renowned early 20th century klezmer clarinettist), the obvious would have been to employ the clarinet. Instead, Kibel avoids this temptation and takes it on his sublimely bluesy tenor. A typical stroke of brilliance.
The material on Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project consists of five standards and three Kibel originals. The standards are exquisitely selected, and the originals, all strong, excellent compositions, match the former superbly.
The quality of the material is perfectly matched by the quality of the playing. Consistent, solid ensemble playing is perfectly complemented by excellent, imaginative soloing all round. This ensemble is highly energetic and dynamic. Kibel's extremely versatile, brilliant, here mainly classically-toned flute is used to great effect on The Old-Fashioned Way, Blue Skies, and Buffalo Wingo. But make no mistake, the flute isn't used purely for a bit of colour, Kibel uses it as an equal to his tenor and clarinet. It is very heartening indeed to find the flute increasingly gaining its rightful place as a mainstream jazz instrument.
Thoroughly consistent, there isn't a single weak track to be found on Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project. Moreover, this is a highly compelling album that's an extremely enjoyable listen. Something special and very classy that deserves much, much greater exposure and listenership.
Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project have done themselves proud with Phonin' It In With Seth Kibel And Bay Jazz Project. For any connoisseur of straight-ahead and swing this cracker of an album has to be an absolute must have!
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