After immigrating to the U.S., Russian trumpeter Valery Ponomarev spent four years in Art Blakey’s group, starting in 1977. Here, Ponomarev salutes the late drummer/bandleader by recasting his repertoire in big-band format. Only someone as intimate with Blakey’s vision as Ponomarev could so seamlessly adapt his hard-bop sound into such brassy, bigger-than-life arrangements. The bluesiness he maintains on tunes like the hard-swinging “Jordu” is incredibly visceral. And when Blakey saxman Benny Golson guests on “Blues March,” his and Ponomarev’s fluid, expressive statements evoke lessons learned straight from the master.