Monday, April 3, 2017

Joseph Howell "Time Made To Swing"


The clarinet, that tricky reed instrument, obstinately hangs in there. Nearly run asunder by the popularity of the saxophone, the clarinet still occasionally pleads its case. And Joseph Howell is clearly in charge on this clarinet-led quartet session. No knock on Cory Pesaturo who leads the rhythm section on accordion. That's right! The much maligned squeeze box! He's a very spiffy player with boppy solos, even on jazz classics like Bird's "Confirmation", Monk's "Let's Cool One" and John Lewis' "Milestones". Pardon me for being a purist, but a piano's a piano and an accordion is, well, great for the Poulsbo Polka Festival. Beyond the jazz compositions named above, Howell's quartet swings its way through a dependable set of standards and one blues. Howell has chops---no doubt about it. As for the accordion chap, he's hip!

Summit; 2016; appx. 64 min.

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