Ben Wolfe Quintet - Live at Smalls

Ben and Hutch lay down an exciting, swinging foundation that allows Marcus Strickland, Luis Perdomo, ad Ryan Kisor to expand in interesting ways upon the written notes on the page. The ideas are complex, focused, and uniquely expressive without being plagued by the needless, overcomplicated jackoffery that is all-too-common in today's jazz scene. Shades of Monk and Mingus's small group works throughout. A prime example of master musicians with clear ideas going for the jugular.

Such a great record! The band is killing, rhythm section is tight and the horn players are ridiculous. What more could you ask for? Get it now!

Been a fan since the "Baghdad Theatre" days. Ben is one of the greatest bassists of his or any other generation, and he's as distinctive, skilled and memorable a composer as you'll find in the jazz world today. In fact, people like him are harder to find than ever because they are not afraid of playing jazz music that sounds like jazz music. Not content to write a math problem and call it a tune, Ben digs for melodies and humanity in his music. And then there's that bass sound...

This is a remarkable recording. The band is top-notch, Ryan Kisor on trumpet, Marcus Strickland on tenor, Luis Perdomo on piano and Greg Hutchinson on drums - all the top cats currently on the New York Jazz scene. The leader, Ben Wolfe worked for years with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick. Here he demonstrates his leadership and composing skills. Each tune is a well crafted piece of jazz writing and the cats respond with unbelievable creative solo work. Because it's a live recording (at the legendary Smalls Jazz Club) the energy is intense. You can feel the excitement of the audience. This is also one of the best engineered and mixed records of the new batch. I highly recommend this as an extremely gratifying listening experience worth going back to again and again.