Javon Jackson: One by One

Wayne Shorter composed "One by One" back during his days with Art Blakey. Here Javon Jackson and company capture some of the sweet swinging ambiance of the Jazz Messengers. Nothing too "out" or faddish here, just solid solos over a grooving rhythm section. Jackson starts his improvisation with short, incisive phrases, and gradually stretches them out, and before long they are hurtling forward like a loco-motif Trane threatening to derail. Eric Reed, in contrast, scarcely takes a quarter-note rest during his first chorusI never knew you could do circular breathing on the keyboardin which his thematically constructed improvised line coils round and round like the longest serpent in the underbrush. Drummond and Holt are in perfect synch, contributing to the happy proceedings on this infectious track.