Jon Irabagon: The Observer | CD review

(Concord Jazz)Another Thelonious Monk Piano Competition winner on Concord's roster, saxophonist and composer Jon Irabagon won in 2008 and got the chance to assemble this straightahead all-star band. It features pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Victor Lewis, plus trumpeter Nicholas Payton and Elmo Hope's widow Bertha, playing piano behind a smoky account of her husband's poignant ballad Barfly. In the Concord tradition, straightahead swing and song-form tunes are paramount, so...

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