A pair of threes…
Pianist/composer Omer Klein takes his trio of Haggai Cohen-Milo/b and Amir Bresler/dr through a rich mix of Israeli inspired originals. Bresler’s brushes are a plus here, classy around Cohen=Milo’s bass on “Malchut” and graceful under Klein’s ivories on “The Ravens”. Theleder gets elliptical on “Cantando” and impressionistic during “One Step At A Time”, with the three building up steam to the climax. A Fun Middle Eastern dance simmers on” Nigun” with Kleinchiming with Bresler’s mallets on the reflective “Spilt Milk”. Sabra sweets.
Bassist Leon Lee Dorsey surrounds himself with a pair of swingers in guitarist Russell Malone and drummer Mike Clark. Dorsey doesn’t fight for the spotlight much here, doing a bit here and there as on ”The Thumb” being his longest solo. The emphasis here is letting Malone dig into his bag of tricks, getting into a Wes Montgomery mood on the aforementioned tune as well as a nifty take of “Bumpin’ On Sunset” and then digging in with former Headhunter Mike Clark on “Cantaloupe Island” and a couple of pieces by Horace Silver, particularly on a funky “Sister Sadie”. Malone glistens on” The Very Th ought of You” and gives a homage to his master on Kenny Burrell’s “Listen to The Dawn”. If there’s some other way a guitar trio is supposed to so und, give me a call, cause this sounds like “IT”.