You may not hear a more tasteful, delightfully hard-swinging jazz album in 2023 than drummer
Brandon Sanders
' debut,
Compton's Finest
. A leading sideman since moving to New York in the early 2000s,
Sanders
has distinguished himself playing alongside such luminaries as
Mike LeDonne
,
Joe Lovano
, and
Jeremy Pelt
, among many others. Before all that, he grew up on the West Coast in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where he first developed a passion for jazz. It's an association he shares with the album's producer, drummer
Willie Jones III
, who also grew up in Los Angeles and who first made his name in the '90s as member of the group
BlackNote
, an ensemble whose acoustic post-bop sound has much in common with the style
favors here. Joining
is an adept lineup featuring tenor saxophonist
Chris Lewis
, vibraphonist
Warren Wolf
, pianist
Keith Brown
, and bassist
Eric Wheeler
. Together, they play with a light yet locked-in touch that is the epitome of swinging, straight-ahead jazz. Saxophonist
Lewis
has a fuzzy, burnished tone that brings to mind
Dexter Gordon
, especially on standards like the opening "Softly, as a Morning Sunrise" and the propulsive take on
Kenny Barron
's "Voyage." They also offer a gorgeously languid reading of "Body and Soul" that has the breezy, candlelit romanticism of a dinner by the beach. Also adding a romantic sophistication is vocalist
Jazzmeia Horn
who jumps on board for a sparkling, Latin-inflected rendition of
Stevie Wonder
's "Can't Help It" and a dusky "In a Sentimental Mood."
also excels as a composer, revealing his
Philly Joe Jones
-esque touch on the slinky title track's blues and evoking the crisp hard bop grooves of
Billy Higgins
on the album closer, "SJB." ~ Matt Collar