You may not hear a more tasteful, delightfully hard-swinging jazz album in 2023 than drummer
Brandon Sanders' debut,
Compton's Finest. A leading sideman since moving to New York in the early 2000s,
Sanders has distinguished himself playing alongside such luminaries as
Mike LeDonne,
Joe Lovano, and
Jeremy Pelt, among many others. Before all that, he grew up on the West Coast in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where he first developed a passion for jazz. It's an association he shares with the album's producer, drummer
Willie Jones III, who also grew up in Los Angeles and who first made his name in the '90s as member of the group
BlackNote, an ensemble whose acoustic post-bop sound has much in common with the style
Sanders favors here. Joining
Sanders is an adept lineup featuring tenor saxophonist
Chris Lewis, vibraphonist
Warren Wolf, pianist
Keith Brown, and bassist
Eric Wheeler. Together, they play with a light yet locked-in touch that is the epitome of swinging, straight-ahead jazz. Saxophonist
Lewis has a fuzzy, burnished tone that brings to mind
Dexter Gordon, especially on standards like the opening "Softly, as a Morning Sunrise" and the propulsive take on
Kenny Barron's "Voyage." They also offer a gorgeously languid reading of "Body and Soul" that has the breezy, candlelit romanticism of a dinner by the beach. Also adding a romantic sophistication is vocalist
Jazzmeia Horn who jumps on board for a sparkling, Latin-inflected rendition of
Stevie Wonder's "Can't Help It" and a dusky "In a Sentimental Mood."
Sanders also excels as a composer, revealing his
Philly Joe Jones-esque touch on the slinky title track's blues and evoking the crisp hard bop grooves of
Billy Higgins on the album closer, "SJB." ~ Matt Collar
