New Time, New 'Tet

iTunes Review

Pushing 80, saxophonist and composer Benny Golson leads a new sextet on this pleasing 2009 release. Golson was a key member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and led the Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer in the ‘60s. New Time, New ‘Tet includes originals along with a varied set of covers by composers as different as Thelonious Monk (“Epistrophy”), El Debarge, from the ‘80s R&B group DeBarge, (“Love Me In a Special Way”), and Giuseppe Verdi (“Verdi’s Voice”). The band — trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Carl Allen — handles Golson’s postbop stylings with great aplomb. (Henderson and Williams were both members of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi-era group, a sextet with a very different sound.) The group’s refined-but-not-fussy approach is often low-key, while retaining a bluesy, soulful bite. Golson’s arranging skills are on full display on the album’s reincarnation of “Gypsy Jingle-Jangle,” and the band shows its lush side on the gorgeous ballad, “From Dream to Dream.” Special guest Al Jarreau lends his vocals to a version of Golson’s often-covered “Whisper Not.”