Tom Harrell; Oak Tree

At my age, I still think of Tom Harrell as one of the “young cats” out there. But here’s his latest CD with a cover photo of the salt and pepper Tom Harrell. Mostly salt, I might add. Things haven’t changed: his magnificent tone and lyrical, masterful compositions are still intact. On this session his quartet rewards with eleven T H originals ranging from the swinging to the nearly sorrowful. The opening, entitled “Evoorg”, is Harrell’s playful, boppy turnaround on the word “groove”. I couldn’t zero in on which standard it’s based. Like so many before it, perhaps the root is Gershwin’s classic “I Got Rhythm”. Sometimes Harrell’s melodic ideas are a bit spacey for me. But there’s no denying the depth of his creativity or his high caliber musicianship.

High Note; 2022; appx. 56 min.