W. Royal Stokes recommends.....

Tommy Cecil, Samba for Felix (Slide Music SM 3003) Gary Bartz, alto and soprano saxophones; Tommy Flanagan, piano; Paul Bollenback, guitar; Tommy Cecil, bass; Cyro Baptista, percussion; Billy Hart, drums "Samba for Felix," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "You're So Retro," "Cê," "Cavalier," "The Heather on the Hill," "Perspective Changes," "Pastorale" Tommy Cecil has been for more than two decades one of the most in-demand bassists for rhythm sections supporting a variety of visiting and area-based artists at the major Washington, D.C., clubs and concert halls. He has recorded with a number of these and has made forays out onto the national and international festival scenes. His skills are well known as are his "big ears" and the ease with which he fits into jazz contexts of styles from traditional and Swing Era through bebop. This long-time admirer has even occasionally heard him lending his artistry to combos of an "outside" persuasion and he seemed perfectly at home there, too. On this CD, his first as leader, he has gathered together a group of stalwarts, and the participation of these giant talents verifies the respect in which musicians hold him. The title tune, one of five Cecil originals in this outing, is in honor of the late radio legend Felix Grant, one of the prime movers in the introduction of the bossa nova to U.S. shores. It has Bartz up front and cooking until Flanagan comes on with a characteristically fluent solo that demonstrates why he has remained at or near the top of the polls in recent years. Bollenback's incisive guitar licks then take over for a riveting spell and then the group trades twos and fours for a reprise of the head, with the rhythm players boiling beneath it all. You're thinking, "It doesn't get any better then this," and then Bartz's horn launches into a leisurely reading

of the Ellington classic next up, with Flanagan offering his own commentary on the song's sentiment, both with his accompaniment and in solo. On this number the other players are fittingly subtle, but they are there, no doubt about that. "Retro" opens with more of the guitarist's fleet expression, proving to these ears that he is deserving of far greater recognition that has been the case. Of the other selections, I especially dug the group's interpretation of the Lerner/Lowe standard "The Heather on the Hill," on which Bartz's soprano plays so inventively with the melody, and the leader's original "Cavalier," which lets loose drummer Hart for some melodically driven and very exciting action and puts bassist Cecil front and center for a display of his formidable solo talents. Highly recommended for those whose listening tastes require a contemporary sound that respects the traditions of the great American art form of jazz. W. Royal Stokes June 30, 2000 Order Samba for Felix now!

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