Label: Posi-Tone Records, 2023
Personnel - Josh Lawrence: trumpet; Willie Morris III: tenor saxophone; Art Hirahara: piano; Boris Kozlov: bass; Jason Tiemann: drums (#1,2,6); Rudy Royston: drums (#3,4,5,7,8).
Trumpeter and composer Josh Lawrence has been giving us many reasons to smile with albums like Color Theory (Posi-Tone, 2017) and Contrast (Posi-Tone, 2018). Last year, he released Call Time with a quintet featuring the up-and-coming saxophonist Willie Morris and the rhythm section of pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Jason Tiemann. His fifth album, And That Too, features this same quintet with drummer Rudy Royston replacing Tiemann on five of the eight cuts.
With tradition at the very center, each tune is infused with smart playing and expressive qualities. The opening cut, “Grit”, is one of those burning post-bop explosions that builds tremendously, steamed with expert improvisations. This Freddie Hubbard-esque piece was penned by Morris, who completely steals the show with a clever, tonally fluid and narratively engaging solo that stuns from start to finish. He is preceded by Lawrence, whose clear language can be as fast as an arrow travels, and followed by Hirahara, an adept of versatility and firm touch. Morris brings a second composition into the song lineup - the hard-swinging, short-themed “Hole in the Wall” begins with tenor over bass and drums, and is later harmonically contextualized by sparse piano moves turned rhythmic counterstatements.
With Kozlov and Royston in the pocket, “Cosmological Constant” offers hard-bop cheerfulness shaken by doubling tempos for a different feel. Alternatively, “North Winds” is a mid-tempo piece with insightful drum fills by Royston during the improvisations, whereas “Black Keys” is a blues played with decorum and range.
The compelling strength of Lawrence’s soaring lines can be amply appreciated on his soulful ballad “Left Hanging”, and his compositional capabilities confirmed on “Cantus Firmus”, a groovy number in five, all at once redolent of Woody Shaw and Lee Morgan. Its rhythmic acuity invites the trumpeter and Morris to take improvisational turns before Royston substantiates his drum chops during the final section.
Lawrence and his supple quintet still find the time to plunge into the exquisite chord progression of Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti” and tackle it with delicate and thoughtful sensibility. This is an undeniably virtuosic recording that, bringing back the taste of classic jazz, finds Lawrence at the apex of his career.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Grit ► 04 - North Winds ► 08 - Cantus Firmus